Michael Leahy - Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce

Jun 24, 2020

Former First Standard Financial Stockbroker Michael Leahy Barred for Misconduct

Michael Leahy of Red Bank, New Jersey submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in which he has been barred for allegedly failing to reasonably supervise another representative in violation of FINRA Rules 3110 and 2010. In July 2017, Michael Leahy joined First Standard Financial General Securities Representative and General Securities Principal. According to FINRA, Michael Leahy failed to supervise a former registered representative with First Standard, who engaged in a pattern of unauthorized trading, used margin without authorization, recommended unsuitable transactions, and charged excessive commissions in dozens of customer accounts. The FINRA findings stated the Leahy was allegedly aware of the multiple red flags and failed to investigate or take action against the representatives misconduct. Due to Leahy’s failure to supervise, the representative’s misconduct continued until the New Jersey Bureau of Securities revoked the representative’s registration.

May 15, 2020

First Standard Compliance Officer Michael Leahy Barred and Fined

Michael Leahy of Redbank, New Jersey submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for allegedly failing to supervise one of the firm’s registered representatives. Leahy was a Compliance Officer for First Standard and was responsible for supervising representatives to ensure there were no FINRA Conduct Rule violations. However, FINRA found that while Leahy was an acting compliance officer, he failed to supervise a representative that had continuous red flags with unauthorized trades and excess commissions. FINRA found Leahy, as a Compliance Officer, did not conduct any investigations of these red flags in violation of FINRA Rules 3110 and 2010. Without admitting or denying the FINRA findings, Leahy agreed to the sanctions and was barred from association with any FINRA member and fined $5,000.