David Todd II, of Kent, Ohio, a stockbroker formerly registered with Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc., has been fined $15,000.00 and suspended for four months from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any capacity based upon consenting to findings that Todd, inter alia, made misleading statements to customers in the course of making investment recommendations. Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, No. 2015045370601 (May 23, 2017).
According to the AWC, on three occasions between December 2011 and May of 2014, a recommendation for a real estate purchase was made by Todd to a prospective customer of the firm. Apparently, Todd utilized his firm’s credentials within correspondence to customer TS, where he stated that TS was cognizant of the investment risk pertaining to real estate securities. Todd reportedly indicated that TS was well versed in investing, accountable for his investment decisions, and would procure financing to purchase the real estate investment whether through entering into a loan arrangement or utilizing TS’s securities or cash.
Apparently, Todd’s communications were viewed by FINRA as faulty due to his misleading statements concerning the firm’s part in the transaction involving TS. Evidently, Todd never conducted any due diligence in reference to the investment that he recommended for TS, and TS was not an existing customer. Todd also reportedly failed to retrieve approval from his firm prior to sending the correspondence to TS.
The AWC revealed that TS was sued by another party in March of 2015, where the firm and Todd received subpoenas concerning services that the firm and Todd provided to TS. The subpoenas particularly called for information regarding recommendations that were made to TS about TS’s investment in a real estate venture. Todd reportedly concealed the subpoenas from the firm, causing the firm to be unable to supervise Todd’s activities or maintain records of his communications with TS. FINRA found that Todd’s conduct in this regard was violative of FINRA Rule 2010.
Todd was terminated by Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc. on April 7, 2015, based upon allegations that he violated his firm’s correspondence policies and did not make required disclosures concerning his business activities.
FINRA Public Disclosure reveals that Todd, while associated with Salomon Smith Barney, was named in a customer investment related written complaint, in which the customer requested $5,000.00 in damages based upon allegations that he made misrepresentations to the customer and failed to abide by the customer’s instructions relating to over-the-counter equity transactions.
Since August 12, 2015, Todd has been associated with International Assets Advisory, LLC.
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