South Florida Arbitration & Litigation Lawyer Blog
Stock Broker Fraud, Misrepresentation and Mismanagement Attorney FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq.
January, 2012:
Jonathan Clark Peterson (CRD #4199364, Registered Representative, Alpine, Utah) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was fined $82,033, which included disgorgement of $82,033, representing proceeds from the sales of shares of a security and the value of the shares used for a vehicle purchase, and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for two years. The fine must be paid either immediately upon Peterson’s reassociation with a FINRA member firm following his suspension, or prior to the filing of any application or request for relief from any statutory disqualification, whichever is earlier. Without admitting or denying the findings, Peterson consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that as his member firm’s trader and market maker, he filed, on his firm’s behalf, Form 211 applications to quote the securities of two issuers on the OTCBB and prepared a Form 211 for one of the issuers and signed the application as the person FINRA should contact for additional information regarding the application, and began entering quotations in the securities. The findings stated that neither Peterson nor his firm provided bona fide services, including investmentbanking services, to either issuer, or to any other person or entity affiliated with or related to either company. The findings also stated that shares of one of the issuers were delivered to a former firm principal in certificate form; Peterson and the former firm principal transferred more than half of the shares to Peterson’s relative and the remainder to entities affiliated with his family and persons associated with the firm. Peterson sold 33,850 shares for total proceeds totaling $70,454; thereby accepting a payment or other consideration, directly or indirectly, for submitting Form 211 applications in connection with the securities, publishing quotations and acting as a market maker. The findings also included that Peterson arranged for a relative to transfer shares to an automobile dealership in exchange for the purchase of a car and to facilitate the purchase, Peterson arranged for the dealership to open a securities account at his firm for the sole purpose of depositing shares and promptly selling them back to him or his firm; the dealership transacted no other trades in any other securities in its firm account. Peterson purposefully selected a share price for the transaction so that when multiplied by the number of shares, it would total the vehicle’s purchase price. FINRA found that Peterson published or circulated, or caused to be published or circulated, a communication reporting a transaction in a security without believing that the transaction was a bona fide purchase or sale, and quoted the bid price and ask price in the security, without believing that such quotations represented a bonafide bid for, of offer of, the security.
The suspension is in effect from December 5, 2011, through December 4, 2013. (FINRA Case #2007008031802).