Infinity Financial Services to Pay $35,000 Fine for Failure to Investigate New Hires
From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law LLC:
Infinity Financial Services has agreed to pay a $35,000 fine to settle allegations made by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). According to FINRA Enforcement, Infinity Financial Services failed to establish, maintain and enforce a supervisory system related to the background investigation for new employees.
According to a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”), from March 2014 to April 2017, Infinity’s New Hire Checklist failed to include a search of public records regarding new hires. Additionally, the firm failed to contact the former employers of its new advisors. As a result of these failures, Infinity hired 16 advisors without conducting a pre-registration search in CRD, and failed to detect pending bankruptcies, judgments, and tax liens for five advisors.
FINRA Enforcement also found that between November 2016 and May 2017, Infinity increased the number of associated advisors and branch offices beyond its membership agreement without filing the requisite documents with FINRA and receiving FINRA approval.
In addition to the fine, Infinity Financial Services received a censure and is required to file a continuing membership application with FINRA. By signing the AWC, Infinity accepted and consented to the entry of FINRA’s findings without admitting or denying those findings.
Tags: eccleston, infinity financial services, fines, eccleston law, finra