Finra Suspends 25-Year Broker Who Took Shortcuts with Account Documents

Sending another signal to brokers about the risks of taking shortcuts on client paperwork, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has suspended a 25-year veteran broker for three months and assessed her a $5,000 fine.

Claire M. Cail, a former Morgan Stanley broker in Manchester, New Hampshire, altered signed account documents from eight customers by filling in missing information such as an address or telephone number or checking a beneficiary box, the regulator said in a letter of acceptance, waiver and consent that Cail signed without admitting or denying the findings.

She also filled out new account and beneficiary forms from a prospect who Morgan Stanley previously rejected by combining them with a prior signature page and submitting them, according to the document that Finra posted on April 2.  The actions caused the firm to violate Finra’s books-and-records rules by maintaining inaccurate data, while Cail violated the regulator’s sweeping Rule 2010 requiring registered reps to observe “high standards of commercial honor,” Finra wrote.

“Altering or completing signed customer documents violates FINRA Rule 2010 even when done to accommodate a customer,” the letter said.

Enforcement of the rule violations during the coronavirus market and public-health crisis underscores Finra’s intolerance of infractions that brokers and client associates say are often done to help out customers in need of fast service.

Cail, who started her career in 1993 at Invest Financial Corp.—which provided brokerage services in small bank branches— could not be reached for comment at a publicly listed number.

She worked for almost 19 years at Morgan Stanley and its Smith Barney predecessor before being discharged in May 2019 over the document alteration allegations, according to BrokerCheck.

Finra’s letter of acceptance, waiver and consent made no mention of client complaints, and Cail has no disclosure events on her records aside from the account document alteration allegations. She is not currently registered with Finra.