The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards has imposed interim suspensions on two financial advisors, including one facing felony charges for sexual exploitation of a minor.
Gary B. Gross of Raleigh, N.C., and John N. Matson of Manhattan Beach, Calif., lost their right to use the CFP certification marks pending the CFP Board’s completed investigation and possible further disciplinary proceedings.
Gross’ sanction was effective Jan. 13 and Matson’s was effective Jan. 11, the board said.
Gross, founder of Focused Financial, an affiliate of Principal Securities Inc. in Boone, N.C., was arrested Nov. 4, 2022, by North Carolina authorities and charged with nine counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, a class E felony, in the Superior Court of Wake County, the board said.
After learning of the felony charge against Gross, the board filed a motion on December 6, requesting that the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (DEC) issue an interim suspension order against Gross. A hearing panel on January 13 reviewed the matter and determined “that CFP Board Counsel demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that Mr. Gross’s conduct poses a significant threat to the public or significantly impinges upon the reputation of the profession or the CFP certification marks.” That same day, the panel granted the board’s motion and issued the interim suspension.
Reached at his office on Monday, Gross said, “I am denying all charges.” He said his online account was inadvertently hacked when he was overseas, and his attorneys are waiting for the forensics to prove that. “There is nothing on my computers and so that’s what we are trying to do. So, that’s kind of where we are at,” he said.
Gross has been in the industry since 1994 and worked for more than a dozen firms prior to joining Principal Securities Inc. in March 2020.
Matson, formerly with LPL Financial, was issued the interim suspension order after the board became aware that he was barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in December 2022. Matson refused to respond to Finra’s request for documents in connection with an investigation that he recommended and sold certain promissory notes to an elderly client, the board said. According to BrokerCheck, the 80-year-old client lodged a complaint on a Finra hotline that Matson “had recommended that the customer invest in a promissory note and had thereafter ceased making promised interest payments on the note.”
Matson had been with LPL from 2007 to 2015 before moving to Ameriprise Financial Services. He rejoined LPL in 2017. He began his career in 1996 with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith and moved to Citigroup Global Market in 2004.
The interim suspension order is a temporary sanction and does not preclude the board from imposing a final sanction, the board said. The order will remain in place until the DEC or, if an appeal is filed, the appeals committee issues a final order.