Seven financial advisors had their right to use the Certified Financial Planning certification marks permanently revoked in March as part of a series of public disciplinary actions announced by the CFP Board this week.
The permanent revocations are the most serious actions taken by the board, which also issued letters of admonition and suspensions.
The Boards Disciplinary and Ethics Commission issues between four and eight revocations a year, after a hearing determines what they consider to be violations of the Boards Standards of Professional Conduct, said CFP Board spokesman Dan Drummond. The Boards staff also issues between 15 and 30 administrative revocations per year, due to a respondent's failure to respond or pay the required hearing fee, Drummond said in an email.
The organizations Disciplinary and Ethics Commission permanently revoked the CFP certification of Jack A. Harriman of Monrovia, Calif., after determining Harriman filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in 1994 and again in 2011, demonstrating a continued inability to manage his personal finances. Attempts to contact Harriman for comment were not successful.
The other CFP revocations were all issued by administrative order -- meaning that the subjects failed to respond to the CFP Board complaint or pay the required hearing fee, Drummond said.
- Joseph P. Zicari of Rochester, N.Y., allegedly recommended that his clients, aged 85 and 83, allocate over 60% of their savings to an immediate annuity that did not meet their investment objectives and was not suitable based on their age, expenses and lack of investable assets, according to the CFP Board. Zicari, an employee of M&T Securities, deferred comment to a compliance officer, who did not return phone calls.
- Alan A. Miosi of Buffalo, N.Y., allegedly was convicted of disorderly conduct; failed to update his Form U4 to reflect his criminal conviction; was terminated by his firm and suspended by FINRA; and failed to notify the CFP Board of changes to his contact information. Miosi worked for Ameriprise until August 2012, according to FINRA's BrokerCheck, but could not be located for comment.
- Robert Bragg of Hot Springs Village, Ark., allegedly sold unregistered promissory notes to three investors for a total of $500,000 while he was not registered as a broker-dealer or an agent of a broker-dealer, the CFP Board said. Braggs phone recording said he was not accepting calls at this time.
- Diane L. Barriga of Parkland, Fla. allegedly misappropriated client funds, and was also barred by FINRA after failing to cooperate with an investigation, according to the CFP Board. No phone or email contact information for Barriga was available; a Florida CFP with the same name did not return a LinkedIn request.
- Stephen William Connolly of Earlham, Iowa, allegedly filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1996 and again in 2009, demonstrating a continued inability to manage his personal finances, according to the CFP Board. Attempts to contact Connolly were not successful; his firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
- Robert Carpenter, of Wylie, Texas, allegedly filed for his second bankruptcy filing in 2011, which demonstrated a continued inability to manage his personal finances, according to the CFP Board. Attempts to reach Carpenter for comment were not successful; voicemails left with a real estate agent in Wylie by the same name were not returned.
