FINRA suspended former Wells Fargo financial advisor James Gavin Christianson for exercising discretion to complete several hundreds of purchases and sales in customer accounts without obtaining written permission and in contravention of firm policy.
According to the findings, Christianson did receive verbal permission from a customer to exercise discretionary power in three accounts, but failed to memorialize the arrangement in writing. Furthermore, Wells Fargo policy at the time forbade its representatives from exercising such discretion; none of the accounts were accepted by the firm as discretionary accounts.
Christianson's BrokerCheck report indicates that Wells Fargo discharged him after he admitted to not speaking with his client on the date of the unauthorized discretionary transactions. The report indicates Christianson is presently associated with Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated in Portland, Oregon.
If you have invested with James Gavin Christianson or with any broker or financial adviser whose use of discretion in a non-discretionary account or without your written permission and against firm policy has proven harmful to your investments or interests, please call The Law Offices of Jonathan W. Evans & Associates at (800) 699-1881 for an investigation and consultation.