Tr?id=566623520170033&ev=PageView&noscript=1

FINRA Suspends Former Merrill Advisor Over Unauthorized Trades

Posted on September 8th, 2022 at 1:48 PM
FINRA Suspends Former Merrill Advisor Over Unauthorized Trades

From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has issued a 45-day suspension and a $5,000 fine on a former Merrill Lynch advisor who allegedly completed unauthorized trades in three separate client accounts.

The former California-based Merrill advisor, Conrad Branson, allegedly transacted 14 trades in an account for a client known as ‘Customer A’ between September 2019 and February 2020 without obtaining prior authorization, knowledge or consent, according to FINRA. FINRA further alleged that Branson completed trades in non-discretionary accounts without obtaining prior written consent from Customer A and two additional clients during the same time period.

According to FINRA, Merrill has reimbursed Customer A for $78,919 in losses. Branson, who was managing nearly $150 million in client assets, departed Merrill in June to join Birchwood Wealth Advisors, which is affiliated with advisory firm aggregator Kingswood US. According to BrokerCheck, Branson also was involved in a previous client dispute related to unauthorized trading in April 2020, which settled for $34,341 while Branson did not contribute.

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, regulatory and disciplinary matters.

Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, advisors, finra

Return to Archive

TESTIMONIALS

Previous
Next
Quotes Bigger

If the regulators are after you, and are trying to make a case against you, and you are going to contest their allegations against you, make sure you have the best securities industry defense lawyers, Eccleston Law Firm. My case was spun into a combination of penalties including fines, cash settlements, CE courses and suspension. They were the best I have seen in action. When all was said and done, they had done their magic, my situation was negotiated and settled with a simple "letter of caution" and a case closed without action. It is the most important legal business decision you will ever make, make it Eccleston Law.

Rick R.

LATEST NEWS AND ARTICLES

1775751943 Law
April 9, 2026
Private Credit Funds Face Liquidity Strain as Redemption Requests Surge

Investor demand for liquidity has intensified across the private credit market, leaving billions in capital temporarily inaccessible due to withdrawal restrictions, according to AdvisorHub.

1775670322 Law
April 8, 2026
FinCEN Imposes $80 Million Penalty on Canaccord for AML Failures

The U.S.

1775574785 Law
April 7, 2026
SEC Charges Long Island RIA and Executives in $138 Million Private Fund Scheme

A Long Island-based registered investment adviser and two of its senior executives now face parallel civil and criminal proceedings tied to an alleged scheme involving conflicted private fund investments, as reported by InvestmentNews.