FINRA Suspends Former PlanMember Securities Broker Quincy Caldwell for Unsuitable Mutual Fund Trades

Quincy DeEarl Caldwell, of Katy Texas, submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for allegedly recommending and executing unsuitable mutual fund trades, including switches, in customer accounts, causing the customers to suffer losses of approximately $57,820. FINRA alleged that Quincy Caldwell recommended and effected unsuitable mutual fund trades in six customer accounts, including 22 mutual fund switches.  Whereas Class A mutual funds are designed to be longer-term investments, Mr. Caldwell allegedly made 119 unsuitable short-term mutual fund trades, an average holding time of just 110 days.  Due to Mr. Caldwell’s unsuitable recommendations and short-term mutual fund trades, his six customers incurred $57,820 in Class A mutual fund sales charges.

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Morgan Stanley Broker Suspended by FINRA for Falsifying Customer Account Documents

Byron A. Echeverria, a General Securities Representative formerly employed with the Houston, Texas branch of Morgan Stanley, submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent in which he consented to, but did not admit to or deny, the described sanctions and the entry of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) findings that he falsified customer account documents without the customers’ knowledge. FINRA’s findings state that Byron A. Echeverria, of Katy, Texas, falsified ten documents related to ten customer accounts. Some of the falsified documents included disclosure forms, transfer forms and IRA distribution forms. Mr. Echeverria allegedly re-used original customer signatures from previously executed documents, recycled customers’ signed signature pages from expired forms, affixed customer initials to handwritten changes, and altered tax withholding amounts in order to expedite transactions. None of the customers were aware of the altered forms or that their signatures had been affixed by Mr. Echeverria.

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