Articles Posted in VALIC Financial Advisors

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has barred financial advisor Enoch Booth from the securities industry for refusing to cooperate with a FINRA investigation into whether Mr. Booth engaged in unauthorized private securities transactions and outside business activities.  FINRA launched the investigation after Valic Financial Advisors, Inc. terminated Mr. Booth’s employment in December 2020 and alleged that Mr. Booth failed to disclose a series of private securities transactions, failed to disclose a self-directed IRA, and provided gift cards to clients in violation of firm policy.  Mr. Booth was associated with Valic Financial Advisors, Inc. in Columbia, South Carolina, from May 2001, until December 2020.

When a financial advisor participates in a private securities transaction that is not approved by a firm, it is referred to as “selling away.”  The prohibitions on selling away are designed to protect investors by ensuring that all brokers’ activities are reasonably supervised by firms that employ them.  Further, securities that are sold away from a firm have not been vetted by the firm.

Customers of Mr. Booth or Valic Financial Advisors, Inc. that have suffered financial losses can contact New York securities arbitration law firm Iorio Altamirano LLP for a free and confidential consultation and review of their legal rights.

VALIC Financial Advisors, Inc. (“VFA”) and FINRA entered into a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (“AWC”) on January 8, 2021, over supervisory and reporting violations. Specifically, FINRA found that:

  • Between January 1, 2017, and October 31, 2018, VFA failed to establish a supervisory system and written procedures for the surveillance variable annuity rates exchanges and for corrective action in case of inappropriate exchanges.
  • During this period, VFA also failed to establish a supervisory system and procedures for the review of transactions where a registered representative recommended that a customer invest additional funds into existing variable annuities.
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