Investor Alleges William Beasley Failed to Act in Their Best Interest

William Beasley (CRD #: 1750089), a broker registered with BHK Securities, allegedly failed to act in a client’s best interest, according to his BrokerCheck record, accessed on July 18, 2023. Investors may have also worked with him through BHK Investment Advisors. Keep reading if you want to know more about his alleged conduct as a broker.

Investor Dispute

On June 12, 2023, an investor alleged that William Beasley failed to act in their best interest with regard to his management of their account from November 2018 to May 2021. This dispute is currently pending.

FINRA Rule 2111 and Regulation Best Interest

FINRA Rule 2111 defines suitable investments as securities that fit an investor’s profile, which describes their risk tolerance, tax status, and other characteristics.

Regulation Best Interest (Reg-BI) is an SEC regulation that requires brokerage firms to put their clients’ best interests first. For example, firms must conduct reasonable due diligence when researching investments to ensure their recommendations are suitable for the investor.

FINRA Suspension

On April 12, 2022, William Beasley consented to the entry of findings that he allegedly caused his firm, Morgan Stanley, to keep inaccurate books and records by changing the representative code on certain trades placed between January 2016 and December 2020.

A Letter of Acceptance, Waiver & Consent (AWC) alleged that William Beasley entered into an agreement with the estate of a retired representative in approximately January 2016, under which he agreed to service certain client accounts, including executing trades.

During the relevant period, William Beasley allegedly executed 114 trades in accounts governed by this agreement using his personal representative code instead of the agreed-upon code.

Further, the AWC alleged that Morgan Stanley’s internal system prepopulated the trades with the correct code and that William Beasley negligently entered these trades under his personal representative code. In doing so, he allegedly received higher commissions than he was entitled to under his agreement.

The AWC concluded that these allegations constituted violations of FINRA Rules 4511 and 2010.

FINRA Rule 4511

FINRA Rule 4511 requires firms to keep accurate and up-to-date books and records.

FINRA Rule 2010

FINRA Rule 2010 holds brokers to high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade.

Sanctions

William Beasley consented to the following sanctions:

• $2,500 fine
• 1-month suspension

His suspension ran from May 2 to June 1, 2022.

You can read the full AWC here.

Termination from Morgan Stanley

On June 18, 2021, William Beasley was fired from Morgan Stanley for allegedly causing a shortfall of revenue to be credited to other brokers by submitting transactions under incorrect production numbers.

Background Information

William Beasley has passed the following exams:

• Series 65 – Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination
• Series 63 – Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination
• SIE – Securities Industry Essentials Examination
• Series 31 – Futures Managed Funds Examination
• Series 7 – General Securities Representative Examination
• Series 10 – General Securities Sales Supervisor – General Module Examination
• Series 9 – General Securities Sales Supervisor – Options Module Examination
• Series 4 – Registered Options Principal Examination

William Beasley is a registered broker in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. He is also a registered investment adviser in Alabama.

He has also worked for the following firms:

• BHK Investment Advisors (CRD#: 140515)
• BHK Securities (CRD#: 139665)
• Morgan Stanley (CRD#: 149777)
• Citigroup Global Markets (CRD#: 7059)
• Morgan Keegan & Company (CRD#: 4161)
• Sterne, Agee & Leach (CRD#: 791)
• First Birmingham Securities (CRD#: 4314)

Kurta Law Can Help

If you worked with William Beasley and you have concerns about your investments, please contact us today at 877-600-0098 or info@kurtalawfirm.com for a free consultation.

For over 20 years, Kurta Law has advocated on behalf of investors who want to recover their investment losses from brokers and brokerage firms. Kurta Law is a nationally recognized law firm and exclusively represents investors against brokers and brokerage firms on a contingency basis. This means that the firm only earns a fee if our securities attorneys recover money on your behalf.