Former Van Clemens & Co Stockbroker Peter Douglas Monson Suspended for Excessive & Unsuitable Trading
Peter Douglas Monson of Blaine, Minnesota submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in which he allegedly exercised discretion and engaged in excessive and unsuitable trading in violation of NASD Conduct Rule 2510(b) and FINRA Rules 2111 and 2010. In February 2014, Peter Douglas Monson joined Van Clemens & Co. as a General Securities Representative and General Securities Principal. According to the FINRA findings, Monson actively traded risky microcap stocks in a customer’s account without required authorization. The FINRA findings found that when Monson took control over the customer’s account, it had declined by 60% from investment losses, commissions charged for trades, and also from more than $138,000 in withdrawals that the customer used to help finance a family business. After the customer informed Monson of her cancer diagnosis he continued his frequent trading of microcap securities and did not curtail the amount of trading in her account or seek to reduce her risk exposure. In addition, FINRA stated that Monson allegedly had little contact with the customer and exercised discretion to decide what to trade, when to trade it, and what prices on more than 100 occasions during the same period.
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