Former Advisor Fails To Reverse Bar After Alleged $1 Million Theft From RBC
From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law:
A former RBC Wealth Management advisor lost his bid to reverse an industry bar, according to an appellate decision issued by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
According to FINRA’s National Adjudicatory Council (NAC), Thomas Johnson attempted to retain $1.06 million that RBC mistakenly deposited into his account in 2017. RBC transferred the funds to Johnson as a result of a foreign currency conversion error in pricing a Korean stock. Johnson has been ordered to pay an additional $3,068 in hearing costs and $1,710 in appeal costs, according to the NAC decision.
The NAC did not accept Johnson’s claim that he had genuinely believed that the funds belonged to him and was not aware of RBC’s error due to confusion over currency prices. According to BrokerCheck, RBC fired Johnson in December 2017 and reported on his U5 form that he was terminated due to a violation of company policy that did not involve client harm. However, RBC altered the disclosure’s language in 2018 by adding that Johnson misappropriated and misused RBC property, according to the decision.
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