Investigation: Vincent Storms, Advisor and Compliance Associate at Raymond James

Vincent Joseph Storms (CRD#: 4969537) is a former financial advisor and compliance associate of Raymond James & Associates. From November 2015 to April 2017, he worked at a branch office in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Recently, FINRA filed a complaint against Vincent Storms alleging that he falsified records while at Raymond James.

FINRA Complaint: Vincent Storms Allegedly Falsified Records

Under securities industry rules, Raymond James is required to conduct compliance audits of its individual branch offices. From late 2015 to early 2017, Vincent Storms was responsible for conducting the audits for a number of different Raymond James branch offices.

As part of its audit process, this brokerage firm requires its financial advisors to complete a questionnaire regarding what, if any, outside business activities they were engaged in. Under FINRA Rule 3270, brokerage firms have a duty to supervise these activities. The questionnaire was simply designed to get preliminary information — helping to determine when follow-up work would be necessary.

However, FINRA alleges that Vincent Storm manually altered the questionnaire responses of Raymond James financial advisors in order to avoid performing the follow-up work that would have otherwise been required. As a result of this violation, the outside business activities of many Raymond James brokers were never properly reviewed. FINRA is seeking all appropriate sanctions against Mr. Storms, potentially including a bar from the industry.

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