Finra bars Madison Avenue rep fired after arbitration

Former broker David L. Barber, who was fired by Madison Avenue Securities in January after a client won a $1.67 million arbitration award against him, has been barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. The bar resulted from Mr. Barber's failure to appear at a hearing looking into whether he engaged in unauthorized trading in the accounts of his customers, exercised discretion in customer accounts without written authorization, or otherwise acted in violation of Finra rules. In February 2013, Mr. Barber acknowledged that he had borrowed $867,000 from three customers. While he repaid them, his letter of acceptance, waiver and consent with Finra also addressed his failure to disclose an outside business activity. At the time, he was suspended in all capacities for four months and fined $25,000. Finra began its examination of his alleged unauthorized trading in 2017. Mr. Barber began his securities career in 1986 at Birr Wilson Securities and was affiliated with five firms before joining San Diego-based Madison Avenue Securities in 2015.