South Florida Arbitration & Litigation Lawyer Blog
FIN RA Arbitration Securities, Private Placement and Variable Annuity Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq.
February, 2011:
Pinnacle Financial Group, LLC (CRD #131674, Orlando, Florida) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which the firm was censured and fined $15,000. In light of the firm’s financial status, a lower fine was imposed. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to preserve all of its business-related electronic communications. The findings stated that the firm used an external server to preserve its business-related electronic communications but the server only preserved the firm’s business-related electronic communications for a period of 30 days. The findings also stated that the firm conducted a securities business while it failed to maintain its required minimum net capital. The findings also included that the net capital deficiencies stemmed from its failure to take security haircuts and undue concentration deductions, its improper classification of a note receivable as an allowable asset, its improper classification of fixed annuity commissions and private placement receivables as allowable assets and double-counting a commission receivable. FINRA found that the firm maintained inaccurate books and records, and also filed inaccurate FOCUS reports. (FINRA Case #2009015974501).