According to former broker David Evansen, he is the reason that Mitchel C. Atkins, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.’s District 7 region director, resigned. His claim differs from the SRO’s statement about how Atkins decided to step down “pursue other interests.” Aktins, as FINRA regional director, was in charge of Florida, Atlanta, New Orleans and Dallas, and he worked with the agency for 20 years.
Evansen said that he wrote to FINRA chief executive Richard Ketchum and regulatory operations EVP Susan Axelrod to let them know that Atkins was indicted on both a misdemeanor and felony charge in Louisiana two decades ago. He said that he couldn’t confirm for sure that his letter is why Atkins resigned but he is convinced that it is.
Per Evansen, Atkins purportedly used bingo game earnings for non-charitable purposes, which is illegal in that state. While the felony charge was dropped, Evansen said that Atkins pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge. After Atkins complied with his sentence term, which included conditional probation, community service, and other specifics, his record was expunged.
Evansen is no longer a member of the industry. A FINRA hearing barred him last year after he purportedly answer questions regarding a number of customer complaints made against him during his time at Newbridge Securities Corp. Evansen is appealing the ban, claiming he was not properly told about the inquiry. He also maintains that he did answer FINRA’s questions.
Another broker who recently has been making waves is Bryant Tchan, who was formerly with JP Morgan (JPM) and his now with U.S. Bancorp Investments Inc. Tchan filed an arbitration claim against J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, the bank’s securities unit, claiming that commissions to brokers for outside fund trades were withheld in order to push proprietary fund sales.
Tchan contends that there was an internal review system that identified nonproprietary fund trades and brokers had 30 days to respond to inquiries or risk losing compensation. He says that the system withheld pay despite the fact that outside mutual fund trades took place and clients were billed sales fees. Meantime, Tchan claims, he was discouraged from using other vendors.
He says he was forced to step down from his job and exit a “hostile work environment.’ Tchan contends that after complaining about the supervisory system, a compliance officer and his supervisor implied he would be let go because they didn’t believe him when he said that specific switches he made, which included changing certain clients’ stock mutual funds into bond funds that were nonproprietary, were executed to help portfolios better meet client goals.
If you suspect that your losses are a result of stockbroker misconduct or securities fraud, contact our broker fraud law firm today to request your free case assessment.
Finra Regulator Resigns After 1993 Bingo Fraud Is Leaked, Bloomberg, June 14, 2013
Ex-J.P. Morgan broker: Firm pushed house funds, Investment News, June 11, 2013
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