Donald Woods, a former representative who had been affiliated with LPL in Kentucky, has been fined $10,000 and suspended for six months by Finra for inflating the net worth of customers on firm documents.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. said that Woods inflated the wealth of a retired couple and a single elderly customer to circumvent LPL restrictions so that he could sell the clients real estate investment trusts. Finra said Woods earned $5,600 from the sales, which he will have to disgorge, according to Finra’s letter of acceptance, waiver and consent.
Woods, who began his career in 1981, was affiliated with LPL from January 2010 to January 2017, when LPL terminated his registration due to a business dispute. He was with Thurston Springer Financial until 2018 and is no longer employed in the securities industry.
Recruited assets, organic growth both powered ahead
Goldman Sachs' Padi Raphael, Global Co-Head of Third-Party Wealth, said the "door is always open" regarding a potential RIA referral program, as the firm looks to serve the "mega trend" of growing wealth from independent advisors.
UBS research finds lack of planning and communication as key challenges for high-net-worth widows and next-generation women in navigating inheritances.
The proposed "all markets" fund is structured to enable quarterly redemptions, driven by investments in public equities, fixed income, and private market assets.
The firm has been dogged by compliance issues for years, resulting in multiple fines by various regulatory bodies.
From direct lending to asset-based finance to commercial real estate debt.
RIAs face rising regulatory pressure in 2025. Forward-looking firms are responding with embedded technology, not more paperwork.