The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has issued a three-month suspension against a former LPL Financial advisor who borrowed $1.3 million from a customer without notifying his member firm or obtaining its written approval.
In a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, Finra said Mark Lamkin on three occasions between December 2011 and August 2017, while registered through LPL, borrowed the money from a customer and longtime friend whose account he serviced.
According to the letter, the first loan in the amount of $740,000 was made in December 2011 via a promissory note dated December 30, 2011. It was signed by Lamkin’s wife and secured by a mortgage on the same date identifying Lamkin and his wife as the borrowers and signed by both. That loan has been repaid in full.
The second loan, in the amount of $250,000, was negotiated between Lamkin and the customer and memorialized by a note signed by Lamkin’s wife on April 1, 2017. The third loan, in the amount of $275,000, was made to a limited liability company of which Lamkin was a member and initially was memorialized by a note signed by Lamkin and his business partner in the LLC on August 31, 2017. Those loans are in repayment, the letter said.
The letter also noted that throughout the relevant period, LPL’s written supervisory procedures prohibited registered representatives from borrowing money from a client unless the customer was a family member or unless the representative had sought or obtained prior approval of the loans from LPL.
Further, the letter said that in annual compliance questionnaires completed in 2012 and 2017, Lamkin lied when he said that neither he nor any related person or entity had borrowed or loaned any money or securities from or to another individual or entity.
Lamkin, who was terminated by LPL in September 2018, was also fired on The Apprentice, President Donald Trump’s reality TV show. Lamkin appeared on the show in 2005.
According to BrokerCheck, the Louisville, Ky., native has been working with Calton & Associates, Inc., in Louisville since December 2018. He had been with LPL since 2001.
Finra said Lamkin, who also was fined $7,500, consented to the sanctions without admitting to or denying the findings.