FINRA Suspends Former J.P. Morgan Securities Advisor
From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law LLC:
Former J.P. Morgan Securities advisor David Beston agreed to pay a $5,000 fine and serve a five-month suspension from association with any FINRA member firm in any capacity. Beston also agreed to pay disgorgement in the amount of $7,500. According to FINRA Enforcement, Beston took customer data from J.P. Morgan and sold that data to another advisor who was associated with a different firm.
According to a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”) signed by Beston on October 26, 2020, Beston took data pertaining to approximately 500 J.P. Morgan customers from the firm without authorization in 2012. FINRA alleged that Beston did so in anticipation of his departure from J.P. Morgan. FINRA further alleged that, following his resignation in February 2013, Beston sold data for approximately 250 customers to an advisor who was registered with a different firm. Beston sold this customer data for $7,500, according to FINRA.
FINRA found that Beston’s removal of the customer information from J.P. Morgan constituted a violation of FINRA Rule 2010, and also caused J.P. Morgan to be in violation of the SEC’s Regulation S-P. FINRA also found that Beston’s sale of the customer data constituted an additional violation of FINRA Rule 2010. By signing the AWC, Beston accepted and consented to the entry of FINRA’s findings without admitting or denying those findings.
Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, finra, suspension, jp morgan