From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law Offices:
FINRA enforcement has sanctioned a Wells Fargo Advisor with a 90-day suspension for taking more information than is allowed when he left a credit union affiliated with Raymond James Financial Services to join Wells Fargo Advisors (then Wachovia Securities) in late November 2008.
Prior to resigning from the credit union, where Steven Tomlinson had worked as manager of the investment services group as well as a Raymond James branch manager, Tomlinson allegedly used a personal flash drive to download confidential customer information, including account balances, social security numbers, dates of birth, and quarterly account statements. Of the 2,000 customers whose information he downloaded, only about 200 were his clients.
According to FINRA, Tomlinson provided the flash drive to a Wells Fargo administrative assistant so she could create mailing labels for announcements that he had joined Wells Fargo. While she worked with the flash drive, Tomlinson did not supervise the administrative assistant, and never informed her that the drive contained confidential information, was unencrypted and was not password protected.
This disciplinary decision underscores the need for reps to hire competent financial services employment attorneys to effectuate a move from one firm to another firm.
The attorneys of Eccleston Law Offices represent investors and advisers nationwide in securities and employment matters. Our attorneys draw on a combined experience of nearly 50 years in delivering the highest quality legal services.
