In unrelated cases, a New York supervisor and a Boca principal each mishandled a customer complaint.  In the first instance, the supervisor relied too heavily on what others had to say, rather than on what he might have learned by conducting his own inquiry.

A Registered Supervisor in New York, NY accepted a $5K fine and 3-month suspension to settle FINRA charges he authorized an email to be sent from him to his member firm’s Office of General Counsel that erroneously stated that a customer complaint against a firm RR had been withdrawn/resolved.  Yes, the client’s accounts had been credited with $9,198, and Supervisor Mattia had personally agreed to settle the complaint.  FINRA found, however, that had the Supervisor made a reasonable inquiry into the status of the complaint prior to authorizing the email to be sent, and he would have discovered that the complaint had, in fact, not been withdrawn.   Accordingly, statements in the email were false, which caused the firm to improperly report the resolution on the RR's Form U4.   This is FINRA Case #2008016120501.

In Boca Raton, FL, a Registered Principal agreed to be barred from associating with any broker-dealer to settle FINRA charges he effected transactions in customers’ accounts without their prior knowledge, authorization or consent.  Principal Mouallem then attempted to settle a customer’s complaint by offering to pay the customer $33,000 in exchange for the customer not notifying the firm of the complaint, or had offered to pay $33,000 to resolve it.  In any case, Mouallem sealed his fate by failing to respond to the FINRA inquiry.  This is FINRA Case #2010021587801.   [FINRA March Disciplinary Actions]