William A. Wimberly was registered with LPL Financial, LLC (November 2008 to August 2018) in Jackson, MS. According to FINRA BrokerCheck (as of June 2020), Mr. Wimberly has been suspended from acting as a broker and is not currently registered as a broker, and his Brokercheck report reflects the following disclosures:
In May 1998, a customer dispute alleged damages of $30,000 related to an insurance policy transaction.
The matter was disputed and closed – no action.
More recently, in August 2018, Mr. Wimberly was discharged by LPL Financial ‘s employment for alleged violations of LPL Financial policies regarding the disclosure and conduct of outside business activities. Mr. Wimberly noted that he had created an LLC with a friend to buy stock in ADARA, and he had neglected to get permission from LPL Financial before doing so.
In April 2020, Mr. Wimberly, without admitting or denying the allegations, consented to sanctions pursuant to a FINRA Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC).
In the AWC, it is alleged that Mr. Wimberly engaged in an outside business activity without prior notice to LPL Financial.
Mr. Wimberly and a friend created an LLC and contributed $50,000 to it, participating in a private securities transaction to invest in a technology company in the form of a convertible promissory note from the technology company. Later, Mr. Wimberly contributed another $20,000 to the LLC and purchased an additional investment in the technology company. Mr. Wimberly was fined and suspended by FINRA.
What is “Selling Away”?
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Selling away is when a stockbroker recommends the purchase of an investment not approved by the broker-dealer firm. As a result of bypassing or ignoring the approval process within the broker-dealer firm, the investments have not been subject to any due diligence review or screening process by the broker-dealer firm. The investment products are sold by the financial advisor “away” from the firm.
While the investments and the transactions were sold outside and away from the broker-dealer firm, the financial advisor involved remained under the broker-dealer firm’s control, supervision, or compliance efforts.
FINRA Rule 3270 prevents financial advisors from selling unapproved investment products that have not been vetted by and approved by the broker-dealer firm. This is known as “selling away.”
What Should Investors Do?
Investors that purchased investments from William Wimberly should get a portfolio review by an investment fraud lawyer. Haselkorn and Thibaut, a national investor law firm, offers free case and portfolio reviews to investors as part of public service. Investors can call 1-800-856-3352 for a free review.
The sole purpose of this notice is to investigate the potential sales practice and supervision issues related to any investment that may have been sold away by William A. Wimberly while under the control, supervision, and subject to compliance policies and procedures of LPL Financial.
If you have personal knowledge or experience relating to those issues, please contact our office at 561-585-000, or email us at [email protected].
