Ameriprise Financial Broker Suspended for Failing to Supervise Private Securities Transactions

John Joseph Kilinofsky Jr., a broker with the Plano, Texas branch of Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. (Ameriprise), 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 failed to reasonably supervise a registered representative’s outside business activities. According to FINRA, John Kolinofsky, the branch manager and supervisory principal of the Plano, Texas Ameriprise office, failed to supervise a broker’s participation in private securities transactions and outside business activities in compliance with his firm’s written supervisory policies and procedures. FINRA found that a registered representative, whom Mr. Kolinofsky had a duty to supervise, was allegedly involved in the sale of nearly $1.72 million of preferred shares issued by the biopharmaceutical company BioChemics Inc. FINRA further found that Mr. Kolinofsky knew that the registered representative was engaging in outside business activity with BioChemics and approved the disclosure forms which failed to note the unauthorized securities activity as required by FINRA Rule 2010. Moreover, FINRA found that Mr. Kolinofsky personally invested $10,000 in BioChemics without giving the required written notice to Ameriprise.

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