Oppenheimer Broker Suspended for Unsuitable ETF Recommendations

Edward McFarlane, a registered representative formerly employed with Oppenheimer & Co. Oppenheimer), submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC), in which he consented to, but did not admit to or deny, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) findings that he recommended and effected unsuitable ETF recommendations in his customer’s account, resulting in losses to his customer of approximately $48,524.79. Edward Thomas McFarlane, of Glenside, Pennsylvania, allegedly recommended and effected approximately 169 transactions involving inverse, leveraged, and inverse-leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs).  FINRA found that Mr. McFarlane recommended that the non-traditional ETFs be held in his customer’s account for as long as 470 days, with an average holding time of 40 days.  The ETFs recommended by Mr. McFarlane were intended to be short-term trading vehicles and not meant to be long-term investments. 

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