Finra fines former rep $25,000 over unauthorized trades at two firms

Steven Yellen, a former broker at Morgan Stanley and Ameriprise in El Paso, Texas, has been fined $25,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. and suspended for one year. While at Morgan Stanley, from March 2013 through December 2015, Mr. Yellen improperly exercised discretion to place 14 trades, Finra said in a letter of acceptance, waiver and consent. During that same period, Finra said that Mr. Yellen falsely completed three annual compliance questionnaires when he denied having any accounts in which business was transacted on a discretionary basis. [Recommended video:​ Why aren't people joining the financial advice industry?] After Mr. Yellen left Morgan Stanley in 2016 after 32 years with the firm and became associated with Ameriprise, he continued to engage in unauthorized trading, Finra said. In 16 instances, he executed trades in 10 customer accounts that exceeded the risk levels that the customers had authorized in their option forms, Finra said, adding that he did not obtain authorization from a customer at Morgan Stanley or from his Ameriprise customers to engage in these transactions. Ameriprise discharged Mr. Yellen in January 2018; he is no longer associated with a Finra member firm.