(FINRA Case #2017056130301)
Andrew Jay Lowe (CRD #4636118, Leesburg, Alabama) – An AWC (Accept, Waiver, & Consent) was issued in which Lowe was assessed a deferred fine of $20,000, suspended from association with any FINRA member in all capacities for nine months and ordered to pay $36,180.87, plus interest, in deferred disgorgement of commissions received.
Without admitting or denying the findings, Lowe consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he recommended and engaged in unsuitable trading of Class A mutual fund shares. The findings stated that Lowe’s recommendations caused the customers to incur unnecessary sales charges, and were unsuitable in view of the short holding periods and cost of the transactions. At the time Lowe recommended Class A shares, he knew that these customers had short-term income needs and would need to make complete or partial liquidations of their investments within a year to meet those needs. Nevertheless, Lowe recommended that these customers purchase the A shares because of his belief that, in the long term, the A share investments provided a better value to the customers. Subsequently, over a two-year period, Lowe effected total or partial liquidations of the A shares, over half of which were held for less than 12 months, to meet his clients’ income needs.