FINRA Suspends Ex-Wells Fargo Advisor Over Outside Brokerage Accounts
From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law:
A former St. Louis-based Wells Fargo advisor has been suspended for three months and fined $2,500 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for holding personal outside brokerage accounts absent the firm’s approval.
After joining Wells Fargo in October 2018, Jacob Popek failed to close three outside brokerage accounts even after Wells directed Popek to bring his accounts in-house per firm rules. Popek possessed two additional outside brokerage accounts and failed to disclose the accounts on a December 2019 firm compliance questionnaire, according to FINRA. FINRA charged Popek with violating Rule 3210, which restricts advisors from holding outside accounts absent disclosure to the firm. Further, FINRA claims that Popek violated Rule 2010, which mandates that advisors practice high standards of commercial honor.
According to a Form U5 termination notice filed by Wells, Popek was terminated in April 2020 after he “acknowledge providing inaccurate information” to the firm regarding one of his outside brokerage accounts. Prior to joining Wells Fargo in 2018, Popek spent time at TD Ameritrade and Scottrade, according to BrokerCheck. Wells Fargo noted in its termination filing that no client harm had occurred due to Popek’s failure to disclose the outside accounts.
Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, regulatory and disciplinary matters.
Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, finra, wells fargo, suspension
