Raymond James has been fined $500,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) over allegations it violated customer privacy. “In a desperate rush to get more assets under management and the accounts, many firms are looking the other way on this,” said Bill Singer, a securities attorney representing firms, advisors and customers and author of the BrokeAndBroker.com blog. It is claimed the firms' transition support staff helped newly recruited brokers to set up accounts by pre-populating forms with client information taken from their old broker/dealer, including non-public information such as addresses and account details, without obtaining the customers' consent; this violates Regulation S-P, which is meant to protect customer privacy. The firm was also accused of using a "spoofing" technique that allowed them to access customers’ personal details even when they were not logged into an account.
Raymond James has been fined $500,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) over allegations it violated customer privacy. It is claimed the firms' transition support staff helped newly recruited brokers to set up accounts by pre-populating forms with client information taken from their old broker/dealer, including non-public information such as addresses and account details, without obtaining the customers' consent; this violates Regulation S-P, which is meant to protect customer privacy. The firm was also accused of using a "spoofing" technique that allowed them to access customers’ personal details even when they were not logged into an account.