FINRA Fines Ex-Jefferies, LPL Reps Over Disappearing Chats, Hidden Payoff

One former broker set his WhatsApp messages with clients to delete themselves. Another quietly paid a customer more than $14,000 to settle a complaint he never reported to his firm. Each settled with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for a fine of $5,000 or less and a suspension of a month or less.

FINRA accepted both settlements this week. Neither man admitted or denied FINRA’s findings. Neither is currently registered with a member firm, so neither fine is due unless he rejoins one.

Disappearing Messages at Jefferies

From at least January 2018 to October 2024, former Jefferies LLC representative Guillermo Enrique Guerra Romiti used his personal email and WhatsApp to communicate with at least 10 customers, according to FINRA. The messages included specific investment recommendations, potential outside investments, market updates, and, at least once, documents related to money movement.

FINRA said Guerra turned on WhatsApp’s “disappearing messages” feature, which deletes messages from every participant’s device after 24 hours. He kept doing so after Jefferies gave him a firm WhatsApp account in about December 2022, and after the firm updated its policies that year to require employees to keep all business communications. He had signed at least seven compliance certifications acknowledging the firm’s ban on unapproved channels.

“As a result of Guerra’s actions, an unknown number of business-related communications were irretrievably lost,” FINRA said.

Jefferies fired Guerra in December 2024 for “engag[ing] in and delet[ing] off-channel business communications” and other alleged conduct, according to the firm. FINRA said the matter began with a regulatory tip. Guerra agreed to a one-month suspension and a $5,000 fine for causing Jefferies to keep incomplete books and records.

An Off-the-Books Settlement at LPL

In October 2025, former LPL Financial representative Gregory Wayne Berg paid a customer $14,394 after the customer orally complained about the value of a variable annuity contract and its annuitization, according to FINRA. Berg did not tell LPL about the complaint or get the firm’s approval for the payment, as LPL’s procedures required.

LPL discharged Berg in January, saying he “[f]ailed to escalate customer complaint timely” and settled a customer complaint without prior written approval from the firm. Berg, who first registered in 1998, agreed to a 15-business-day suspension and a $2,500 fine.

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