EDI Financial Stockbroker William Stafford Thurmond Suspended for Misconduct
William Stafford Thurmond of El Paso, Texas submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in which he has been fined and suspended for allegedly making unsuitable recommendations and unauthorized transactions in violation of NASD Rule 2310 and FINRA Rules 2111, 4511, and 2010. From October 1997 until his termination in November 2016, William Stafford Thurmond was registered with EDI Financial as a general securities representative and general securities principal. According to FINRA’s findings, Thurmond recommended unsuitable transactions and executed various unauthorized trades in a customer’s account totaling approximately $328,000. The findings stated that Mr. Thurmond placed eighteen trades without obtaining authorization or approval from the customer or his power of attorney. FINRA also stated that the customer’s desire was to achieve higher returns than he would receive in a savings account, but wanted limited risk to his principal. Instead, the account held the leveraged and inverse leveraged ETFs for an average of over 150 days, which exceeded the recommendations in the ETFs’ prospectuses and FINRA’s NTM 09-31. In addition, Thurmond received $42,724 in commissions from the unsuitable recommendations and caused the customer to generate losses of $212,731.00.
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