Registered Rep "A" borrowed $10K from a customer, his friend, and got a 7-month suspension.  Registered Rep "B" borrowed $20K from his customer and got a 2-month suspension.  The reason may be found in the nuanced details. 

    The Oregon-Based RR.    RR White agreed to a $5K fine  and a 2-month suspension to settle FINRA charges he borrowed $20,000 from a customer at his member firm - to purchase a house - but failed to notify or get permission from his firm.  The transaction was in violation of the firm's WSP.  The RR falsely noted in the firm's annual compliance survey that he had not borrowed money from clients.  This is FINRA Case #2009016876801.

    The Illinois-Based RR.    RR Griffin agreed to a $7.5K fine and a 7-month suspension to settle FINRA charges he borrowed a total of $10,000 from a friend who also was a customer of his member firm.  The loans were effected against the customer’s life insurance policy.  In any case, he violated his firm’s WSP by not getting advanced written approval.  Perhaps here's where things soured for this RR. 

• The RR allegedly supplied the customer with the necessary paperwork and asked the customer not to tell anyone at his firm about the loan.
• The RR then provided false responses during firm face-to-face annual compliance interviews and on questionnaires regarding borrowing or lending money to clients.

This is FINRA Case #2009020328201.    Both cases can be found in:   [FINRA March Disc. Actions]