James Kennedy, Former Woodbury Financial Services Broker, Barred By FINRA

James Kennedy is a barred broker who last worked for Woodbury Financial Services, Inc. in Madison, Mississippi. Woodbury permitted Kennedy to resign for allegedly engaging in unapproved outside business activity with clients. He was barred by FINRA for failing to fully cooperate with their investigation.

Before working at Woodbury Financial Services, Inc. (CRD# 421) from 2007 to 2020, James Kennedy worked for Hartford Equity Sales Company Inc. (CRD# 6604), Edward D. Jones & Co, L.P. (CRD# 250), Legg Mason Wood Walker, Incorporated (CRD# 6555), and Howard, Weil, Labouisse, Friedrichs Inc (CRD# 414). He was registered with FINRA from 1986-2020.

James Kennedy Disclosures

James Kennedy (Jim Kennedy, James Garland Kennedy Jr, CRD# 1527660) has 2 disclosures on his publicly-available FINRA BrokerCheck report:

April, 2020: A regulatory disclosure indefinitely barred Kennedy from associating with a member firm in all capacities, stating “Without admitting or denying the findings, Kennedy consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that he failed to provide documents and information requested by FINRA in connection with its investigation into a tip received. The findings stated that Kennedy provided partial but incomplete responses to FINRA’s requests, but subsequently ceased cooperating with its investigation and refused to produce additional documents and information. Kennedy’s member firm filed a Form U5 disclosing his termination, explaining that he was permitted to resign for engaging in an unapproved outside business activity involving a financial transaction with a couple of clients.”

April, 2007: A customer dispute alleged that a client incurred a tax liability regarding the transfer of money from a Hartford variable annuity to a Hartford fixed annuity based on Kennedy’s advice. $8,000 in damages were requested. The case settled when Hartford issued corrected non-taxable 1099R to the customer.

Allegation Of Unapproved Outside Business Activity

James Kennedy resigned from Woodbury, and was barred FINRA, for allegations that he engaged in “unapproved outside business activity” with clients. This is also known as selling away. Brokers are required to disclose and get approval for their outside business activity. When they don’t, it may be because the transaction involves serious risk for the client and pays the broker a high commission.

Brokerage firms are responsible for monitoring the conduct of their representatives. Clients with losses from outside unapproved business activity may be able to pursue the firm to recover their damages.

Contact Silver Law Group If You Have Losses With James Kennedy Or Woodbury Financial Services

Silver Law Group represents investors nationwide in cases of stockbroker misconduct and securities and investment fraud, including selling away. Scott Silver, Silver Law Group’s managing partner, is the chairman of the Securities and Financial Fraud Group of the American Association of Justice. Contact Scott Silver today at ssilver@silverlaw.com (800) 975-4345 or for a no-cost consultation.