FINRA Bars Broker William Downing, Allegations of $1M Excess Trading

William Downing (CRD #1529382) is a former registered broker and investment advisor who was last registered with Coastal Equities, Inc. (CRD #23769) of Wimberly, TX. He was previously employed with J.W. Cole Financial, Inc. (CRD #124583), also of Wimberly, as well as Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (CRD #7691) and Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC (CRD #19616), both of Austin, TX. No current employment information is available. He began in the industry in 1986.

FINRA barred Downing after he failed to respond to a request for information. He was previously suspended, but did not respond to request termination of his suspension within the three-month time frame. He was indefinitely barred on 08/20/2018. No additional information is available.

Downing is also the subject of a customer dispute, filed on 07/05/2018. In it, the client alleges that Downing “between 2013 and 2018. . .excessively traded client’s account.” Requested damages are $1M, but no additional details are available. It is not known if this case is related to the FINRA action that let to Downing ultimately being barred indefinitely.

A previous dispute filed against Downing on 10/11/2011 was settled for $162,500, after allegations of unsuitability in a 2008 time frame.

Downing has been discharged twice from employment. The first was by Merrill Lynch on 7/11/2012. The firm alleged that he mismarked solicited trades as “unsolicited,” that he “exercised discretion in certain client accounts,” and that he communicated with an “unauthorized third party.” Downing disputes the charges, indicating that no customer complaints were filed, and that the firm didn’t adequately investigate the allegations before discharging him.

The second discharge was on 12/20/2000 by Morgan, Keenan, for writing checks on his wife’s account for deposit in his own account. Downing contends that his wife gave consent, but the firm did not allow this. No other information is available.

Did You Invest With William Downing?

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