May 2026 FINRA Real-World Discipline Examples
If you ever wonder whether all the rules and policies really matter, they DO! Let's look at some recent FINRA enforcement cases.:
- Forged client signatures: An individual was barred for intentionally forging customer signatures on annuity applications without the customers’ prior knowledge or consent and submitting them to the firm in order to receive advanced commission payments for the associated annuities. The individual was paid $511, 609 in commissions to which he was not entitled. The annuities were never funded..
- Off-channel communications: A firm was censured and fined $600,000 for failing to reasonably supervise the use of unapproved communications platforms for business purposes and failed to preserve business-related communications sent and received through unapproved platforms. The communications included substantive messages with clients as well as communications between employees.
- Failing to report complaints: A firm was censured and fined $75,000 for failing to accurately report written customer complaints. The firm omitted hundreds of complaints from their report to FINRA that concerned, among other things, the functionality of the firm’s website and poor customer service. The firm also did not provide reasonable guidance to registered reps on how to identify customer complaints.
Please contact the Prosperity Network Compliance Team with any questions: compliance@prosperityadvisors.com or 913-529-5500 Option 2.
Internal Use Only
Attachment: FINRA Monthly Disciplinary Actions May 2026