Securities Arbitration Lawyers BlogChristopher Robert Hickman is Sanctioned by FINRA after Alleged Elder Financial Fraud
The Florida broker received a fine and suspension for making unsuitable investments
Christopher Robert Hickman will not be able to resume working as a broker until the middle of November. It will be then that his five-month suspension will come to an end. The penalty came from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) after the agency reported that Hickman “engaged in an unsuitable pattern of short-term trading of unit investment trusts (UITs).”
FINRA found that with six customers, Hickman recommended that they buy UITs and then sell them within a year, even though the UITs had maturity dates of 24 months or longer. In fact, the average time the customers held the UITs was just 136 days. Hickman also reportedly recommended that with the money from the sale of these UITs, his customers should buy another UIT with the same objectives. In total, the six customers lost about $116,000.