The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has expelled APS Financial Corp., Austin, Texas, and barred its former president and its former broker from the industry in connection with an alleged scheme involving an elderly investor and markups on CMOs as well as other types of securities.
The company as well as its former president, George Conwill, and former broker Peter Aman settled the allegation that Aman overcharged the investor by more than $1.2 million through undisclosed markups without admitting or denying the allegations. But they did consent to the entry of FINRA’s findings.
FINRA said it found $767,000 of the markups to be “fraudulently excessive.” It said it barred Conwill and expelled APS Financial for rule violations relating to trading in corporate high yield bonds, CMOs and CDOs. It said it also cited APS Financial and Conwill for charging excessive markups and supervision violations.