Kevin Francis Garvey entered the securities industry in 1987 as an operations clerk in the securities lending department of a non-member bank, where he remained until 1991 when he joined the international securities department of a FINRA-regulated broker dealer as the supervisor of their international securities lending desk in New York.   In 1995, Garvey  joined Raymond James & Associates, Inc. as a senior salesperson engaged in international securities lending.  In January 2001, Respondent became the supervisor of RJA's  Securities Lending Desk.  Currently, he holds Series 6 and 24 licenses, and remains employed by RJA. Garvey, as supervisor of RJA's securities lending desk, allegedly permitted the payment of transaction-based compensation to a non-registered individual associated with a non-registered finder firm, when FINRA registration was required.  Specifically, FINRA found that Garvey allegedly committed the following:

• He regularly caused his firm to permit an unregistered natural person to negotiate, solicit and enter into stock borrow and loan transactions - duties customarily performed by a registered securities lending representative.

• Furthermore, during this time, Garvey served as securities lending supervisor for RJA without having being properly registered.

• Garvey caused or permitted the continued payment of finders fees on transactions with certain counterparties in which the finder had provided no service, and permitted individual traders to subjectively determine the cut-in transactions on which a finder was to be paid and the amount of the  finder’s compensation on those transactions even though the finder had not provided service on the transactions.

• Garvey caused his firm to create and preserve inaccurate books and records on the stock loan activity on the securities lending desk, in that the firm’s automated records of the cut-in transactions were inaccurate, in that they reflected that certain finders had participated in stock loan transactions when, in fact, they had not performed any function.

• Through these false entries, the firm's accounting records were inaccurate, because they indicated that payments were made to finders on the basis of services rendered when, in fact, no services had been rendered to justify the payments on the transactions indicated.

Alleged Violations and FINRA Sanctions. By his actions, Garvey violated NASD Rules 2110 and 2420, Incorporated NYSE Rule 345(a)(ii) and (iv), among others.  For his actions, Garvey was fined $35K and suspended 30 days in any capacity. For further details, go to:   [FINRA AWC #2009018183501].   [Disciplinary Actions for November 2011]