Securities Lawyers Blog
The investment lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc.’s (Ameriprise) termination of former broker Stephen Mosley (Mosley) working out of the Lake Havasu City, Arizona office. Ameriprise terminated Mosley in November 2016. According to the broker’s Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) BrokerCheck filing the firm stated that Mosley “was terminated for compliance policy violations related to complying with disciplinary action and heightened supervision, soliciting a prohibited security and suitability of a transaction.” Mosley also has two customer complaints listed on his record. No other disclosure concerning the extent and nature of the activity is disclosed.
However, Mosley has disclosed several outside business activities including his d/b/a Wisdom & Wealth Corp. Mosley has also disclosed entities including LP Prop, LLC – a real estate holding company. It is unclear at this time if Mosley’s activities involve any of these disclosed entities.
The providing of loans, selling of promissory notes, or recommending investments outside of the firm constitutes impermissible private securities transactions – a practice known in the industry as “selling away”. Often times, brokers sell promissory notes and other investments through side businesses as accountants, lawyers, real estate agents, or insurance agents to clients of those side practices.