Kent 

• participated in private securities transactions, received compensation for his participation, failed to provide his member firm with prior written notice, and failed to receive the firm’s prior written approval;
• engaged in outside business activities and failed to provide his firmwith prompt written notice. 
• negligently failed to advise investors and firm customers of material facts concerning a real estate venture and his involvement; specifically, that proceeds from the venture were to be applied towards defaulted bank loans for which he was personally liable.

Russo failed to provide written notice to his member firm that he was engaged in outside business activities for compensation. While associated with a member firm, Russo opened an account with another member firm and failed to notify either his member firm or the executing member firm, in writing, of his association with the other firm. 

REDACTED electronically affixed two customer names to three solicitor disclosure statements without their specific authority, and created an email that was purportedly received from the customer, which he forwarded along with the false disclosure statements to his member firm for processing. By creating a false disclosure statement,REDACTED caused his member firm to violate the requirements of the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 and, by creating the purported email, REDACTED caused his firm’s records to be inaccurate and thereby prevented it from meeting its obligation to preserve, for a period of not less than six years, the first two years in an accessible place, all records required pursuant to SEC Rule 17a-4(b)(4). 

Also, REDACTED engaged in outside business activities and private securities transactions without written notice to, or approval from, his member firm. REDACTED failed to respond to FINRA requests for documents and information. 

While Effron was registered with a member firm, he engaged in outside business activities and failed to provide prompt written notice by completing and submitting an Outside Business Activity Notification Form. 

Effron placed variable annuity transactions through his member firm for customers of a representative from another member firm without discussing the transactions with the customers, and after receiving the completed and signed applications, he submitted them to his firm for processing. Effron received commissions from the transactions and forwarded most of the commissions to the representative without advising his firm of the arrangement. 

Sucoff and Mason engaged in outside business activities, for compensation, without providing prompt written notice to their member firm.

Cary William Sucoff (Principal) and Lewis Mason: Fined $10,000 each; Suspended 15 business days

Gossett made unsuitable investment recommendations to public customers, in that they were inconsistent with each customer’s financial situation, investment objective, circumstances and needs. In verbal and written communications with customers, Gossett made misleading or unwarranted claims about his investment strategy, particularly regarding investment risks, and made predictions or projections of the future performance of the strategy without providing a sound basis for evaluating his assertions. Gossett prepared and distributed to prospective customers sales literature about his investment strategy that failed to include risk disclosures and provided misleading information about past performance; provided incomplete and/or misleading information to customers about the performance of their investments and/or the account balance; and prepared an account statement for a customer in which he did not report all of the customer’s account holdings and thus reported an account balance that was greater than actual. 

Gossett exercised discretion in firm customer accounts without the customers’ prior written authorization and his member firm’s prior written acceptance. Gossett enlisted the service of a non-registered individual to solicit investors to open accounts with Gossett, promote Gossett’s investment strategy, assist customers with completing application forms and serve as Gossett’s primary point of contact. As compensation for the services, Gossett agreed to pay the individual half of the commissions he generated from trades in the customers’ accounts. 

In addition, Gossett opened a securities brokerage account with another FINRA member without providing written notice to his member firm and without advising the other firm of his association with a member firm; failed to disclose the account to his member firm after he opened the account; and failed to provide written notice to his member firm that he was engaged in an outside business activity. In response to a request for information, Gossett knowingly provided false and misleading information. 

Stebbins engaged in his member firm’s investment banking and securities business in capacities requiring registration as a representative and principal, but he was not registered in those capacities. Stebbins engaged in an outside business activity, for compensation, without prior written notice to his member firm. Stebbins had a beneficial interest in securities accounts maintained at other member firms and failed to disclose to the carrying broker-dealers that he was associated with FINRAmembers, and also failed to give his member firms written notification that he had a financial interest in securities accounts with the carrying broker-dealers. 

Stebbins knowingly provided false and/or misleading information in response to FINRA requests for information; and failed to respond to FINRA requests to appear for an on-the-record interview and to provide information and documents.