FINRA: Broker Barred After Investing $2M Without Firm’s Approval

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority barred an ex-broker who was affiliated with Momentum Independent Network after he participated in 19 private securities transactions involving promissory notes totaling $2 million between about February 2018 and August 2022 without first getting his firm’s approval.

Why it matters: Momentum is an affiliate of Hilltop Securities, a national full-service RIA and municipal investment bank, headquartered in Dallas with offices across the U.S. Barring a broker is the toughest sanction in FINRA’s arsenal.

What to know: Momentum discharged Leslie D. Jackson in January 2023, after 31 years with the firm, for violating firm policy, according to the FINRA letter of acceptance, waiver and consent he signed Sept. 14. A lawyer for FINRA signed the letter Tuesday.

Jackson also didn’t disclose that he received periodic payments from the issuers in amounts equal to 3% of each investment each year, paid monthly, FINRA said.

He also “falsely responded to questions about whether he had participated in private securities transactions on three compliance questionnaires between 2019 and 2022,” according to FINRA.