FINRA Suspends Former Morgan Stanley Advisor Who Failed to Disclose Rental Property

Posted on May 6th, 2021 at 9:25 AM

From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law LLC:

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has suspended Steven Melen for four months and fined him $7,500 for failure to disclose his beachfront rental property in Panama. Melen did not disclose that he was earning income from the rental property, and he borrowed $307,000 from two of his customers. 

Melen signed a letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC), consenting to the imposition of the FINRA’s sanctions. Melen was registered as a financial advisor through an association with Morgan Stanley until April 2019, when Morgan Stanley filed a Form U5 reporting his voluntary termination, according to FINRA.

Morgan Stanley amended Melen’s Form U5 to disclose that he was under internal review regarding whether he had “borrowed funds from a customer”, according to FINRA. Melen  since has joined LPL Financial and is still registered with that firm, according to his BrokerCheck report.

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

Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, finra, morgan stanley, advisor suspended

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