FINRA suspended and fined William Walton Brown of Encino, California $10,000, plus restitution for executing discretion in a customer's account without prior written authorization and without firm permission. The alleged violations occurred when Brown was associated with J.P. Morgan Securities in Los Angeles. Brown is currently associated with RBC Capital Markets in Beverly Hills, CA.
The report states that from 2013 to 2014 and while associated with J.P. Morgan, Brown executed 16 discretionary transactions in an account that the firm had not accepted as discretionary, and without prior written authorization from the customer.
Investigators also found that transactions Brown had marked as "unsolicited" were in fact solicited, and accordingly charged Brown with mismarking transactions to cause JP Morgan to retain inaccurate books and records. JP Morgan discharged Brown in April 2014 after the allegations.
Brown previously received a temporary bar from employment and a fine from the New York Stock Exchange for improperly transferring securities between his and customer accounts, making material misstatements to the NYSE, and for improperly altering records at his then-firm, Oppenheimer & Co., Inc.
If you have invested with ex-JP Morgan broker William Walton Brown of RBC Capital in Southern California or with any broker or financial adviser whose inappropriate use of discretionary trading, unauthoritzed trading, or improper recording of (un)solicited trades in your account 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.