FINRA Bars Minnesota Stockbroker from Securities Industry
In April 2010, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) barred Wayzata, Minnesota stockbroker Gregory Gerard Meyer from working for any FINRA-member brokerage firm in any capacity. Meyer, who worked for brokerage firm Great American Advisors, Inc., consented to the sanction and to FINRA’s findings that he withdrew approximately $553,000 from a customer’s bank account by presenting withdrawal slips to bank tellers on which he wrote “at the customer’s request” and deposited the money into his personal brokerage account for his own use. FINRA also found that Meyer stole approximately $85,000 from another bank customer by depositing the proceeds of the sale of the customer’s annuity into his own accounts for his own use. Meyer also exercised discretionary authority over a customer’s securities account without the customer’s written authorization, did not speak with the customer in connection with every securities transaction, and did not obtain approval from Great American Advisors to engage in discretionary trading. The findings also stated that Meyer was paid for private securities transactions without prior written notice to, or prior written approval from, his brokerage firm.
