Raymond James Financial will pay $2.75 million to a brokerage firm regulator for poor supervision of its more than 1,100 branch managers who manage their own offices.
NASD announced the fine this week, with the regulator also permanently barring Donna Vogt, who ran an office out of her home in Campbellsport, Wis., for allegedly urging retirees to buy unsuitable mutual funds and variable annuities, and disregarding age, risk tolerance and investment needs in advising clients. Vogt was terminated in June 2003 after Raymond James discovered that she was failing to follow firm policies. Shortly after, the firm paid $10.2 million to settle claims from 57 of her clients.
According to NASD, Raymond James let branch managers supervise their own sales activities from April 2000 to September 2004 and failed to assess properly whether the investment advice was sound.
Neither Raymond James, nor Vogt admitted wrongdoing, but both consented to the NASD’s findings. In a statement, the financial services said that independent of NASD’s investigation, it has already invested millions of dollars in technology upgrades and to increase the number of workers in compliance, sales management and supervision.
Raymond James Financial Services, which has 3,100 financial advisers, is a subsidiary of Raymond James Financial Inc.
