Veteran Advisor Exits Industry Amid FINRA Probe into UIT Trading Practices
From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law
Gregory Alan Corrie, a 30-year industry veteran based in Boise, Idaho, has opted to leave the securities industry rather than cooperate with a FINRA investigation into allegations of improper trading of Unit Investment Trusts (UITs). This decision follows his termination from Cambridge Investment Research in February 2023 for what the firm described as "excessive use of UIT products," according to AdvisorHub.
UITs are packaged portfolios of stocks and bonds that can generate high commissions but may incur unnecessary fees if not held to maturity, a concern that has led FINRA to closely scrutinize their usage. Cambridge reported to FINRA that it had completed an internal review of Corrie's trading activities and issued "remediation payments" related to those trades.
FINRA has been vigilant in monitoring UIT sales practices. The regulator conducted an industry-wide sweep in 2016 and has pursued numerous enforcement actions against firms and individual advisors for improper use of these products. Cambridge itself was censured and fined $150,000 in 2020 for failing to supervise its brokers' UIT trades effectively.
Under the settlement, known as an Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (“AWC”), Corrie's refusal to provide the requested information to FINRA results in an automatic regulatory bar, effectively ending his long career in the industry.
Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.
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