Jon VanSlooten, a registered representative from Toledo, Ohio, formerly with Edward Jones, was suspended from FINRA membership as a result of an investigation into his discretionary trading without the consent of his customers or firm. VanSlooten entered into an acceptance, waiver and consent agreement with FINRA in which he neither admitted nor denied the findings, but agreed to a suspension of three months and a fine of $7,500.
In June 2017, Jon VanSlooten agreed to the suspension and FINRA published its findings that he participated in discretionary trading without telling his customers. Discretionary trading occurs when a broker is permitted to sell securities and investments on his or her own with the agreement of the client. The broker is essentially given control and discretion over when, where and in what amounts the transactiosn will be made.
VanSlooten made nearly 600 trades for four of his customers without gaining their consent or telling his firm. Edward Jones’ Written Supervisory Procedures do not allow discretionary trading and because of this, he was fined and suspended by FINRA.