On February 2, 2017, Vincent Bee Payne entered into an AWC with FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. FINRA is the regulator that oversees financial advisers.
The FINRA allegations, which Payne neither admits or denies, are that he falsified signatures without permission on certain insurance documents and subscription agreements. The actions took place in July and August 2014.
The actions were motivated, as alleged in the AWC, by an attempt to secure commissions and to prevent his employer from reassigning the accounts. The signatures were for three different customers and were done without the consent of his customers.
Payne entered the securities industry in May 2012 as an Investment Company Products/ Variable Contracts Representative at Farmers Financial Solutions, LLC (“Farmers Financial”), where he remained registered until his termination in March 2015.
From January 2011 through March 2015, Payne also was appointed as an insurance agent with Farmers Insurance Group of Companies (“Farmers Insurance”), a Farmers Financial affiliate. Payne obtained his Series 6 (Investment Company and Variable Contracts Products Representative) and Series 63 (Uniform Securities Agent State Law) licenses on June 25,2012 and July 9,2012, respectively.
FINRA Rule 2010 requires that an advisor, such as Payne, in the conduct of his business, “shall observe high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade.” Signing a customer’s name to a document without proper authority constitutes forgery, and forgery is inconsistent with this Rule
The FINRA AWC can be found at the following link.
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