Ex-Raymond James Rep Fined for Unauthorized Trades and $120K Client Gift
By Staff
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has sanctioned former Raymond James & Associates broker William J. Conn, including a $15,000 fine, for exercising unauthorized discretion over client accounts and circumventing firm policies with undisclosed monetary gifts to a customer.
FINRA reported that, between January 2020 and March 2021, Conn exercised discretion in 465 transactions across 12 accounts held by five clients, all without the required prior written authorization. Although Conn’s customers knew he was placing trades in their accounts, Conn did not have written authorization from the customers or permission from Raymond James to exercise discretion in the accounts.
FINRA stated these actions constitute a violation of Rule 3260, which requires that registered representatives obtain written client permission and firm approval to exercise discretionary power in any customer account, and Rule 2010, which requires high standards of commercial honor and conduct.
Furthermore, according to FINRA, Conn gifted $120,000 to one of these clients across 12 deposits to her checking account between August 2019 and March 2020. Raymond James’ policy capped gifts at $100 per client per year to prevent conflicts of interest and the appearance of impropriety. Additionally, FINRA reported that this was also a violation of Rule 2010.
Conn consented to FINRA’s findings without admitting or denying them. In addition to the $15,000 fine, he was also suspended for three months.
The matter originated from the review of the Form U5 filed by Raymond James, which stated that Conn had been “terminat[ed] for failure to follow firm policies with respect to exercise of order discretion, and with respect to payments to client.”
According to his BrokerCheck record, Conn started his career in 1986 at Gliksman Securities Corp., a firm that has since been expelled by FINRA, and has previously worked at Painewebber, Salomon Smith Barney, J.P. Morgan and others, before starting at Raymond James in 2018. Records also shows six customer disputes throughout his career, including four since 2020. Three of those four disputes were settled for a total of more than $2.63 million. All three made allegations of unsuitable investments. The fourth, which also alleges inappropriate investments, was denied. Conn reportedly did not contribute to the settlements.
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