FINRA Fines Former LPL Rep Misappropriating Customer Data
From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined former LPL Financial representative Nathaniel Adams $5,000 and suspended him for two months. According to ThinkAdvisor, FINRA's order reveals that Adams allegedly misappropriated the personal information of 2,300 customers.
In June 2022, anticipating his departure from his former employer Infinex Investments Inc., Adams improperly emailed an unencrypted spreadsheet containing sensitive customer information—including birth dates, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, account numbers, and tax information—to his wife's email account. Subsequently, his wife forwarded the spreadsheet to a contact at Adams' prospective employer, LPL Financial. Adams sent these emails without the firm's or customers' consent, violating FINRA Rule 2010.
Infinex discovered the email and the attached spreadsheet after Adams resigned in July 2022. They informed LPL Financial, which conducted a review and deleted the nonpublic personal customer information from all devices and email accounts.
Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.
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