Unregistered investment advisor gets 6 month suspension for viewing records of former client

The Delaware Department of Justice Investor Protection Unit received a complaint from a former client of Robert Brandon Prettyman, an unregistered investment advisor who  the unit had previously suspended for making false statements to regulators and operating while unregistered.

 

 

Prettyman has been associated with firms in Bear and Wilmington. Click here for an SEC report.

 

The individual  was concerned that Prettyman had access to his current investment account information – including the period when Prettyman was suspended and even after the client terminated the relationship. 

 

The Unit’s investigation determined that Prettyman opened a portal with a third-party data aggregator, eMoney Advisory, LLC (“eMoney”), while previously registered as an investment adviser. No transactions were made.

 

eMoney’s portal permits financial professionals and their clients to view client  information. After Prettyman was suspended in Delaware, the portal remained active.

 

“Investors’ financial data are some of the most important and private information they maintain electronically. When an investor provides access to that information to an investment advisor through a software product, it is necessarily with a high degree of trust and faith that it will only be accessed for the intended purpose within the context of a fiduciary relationship. Financial professionals absolutely should not be viewing personal financial information when the client relationship had been ended, while suspended, or while unregistered,” said Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings. “Protecting investors from this type of conduct is at the core of investor protection.”

 

Following a preliminary investigation into the investor’s complaint, the unit issued a Summary Order to Cease and Desist and Postponing Registration Pending Entry of Denial against Prettyman on May 3.

 

An investigation led to the filing of an Administrative Complaint on August 12. This settlement resolves both the summary order and the complaint.

 

For help checking the registration status of your financial professional, or to file a complaint, please contact the Investor Protection Unit at Investor.Protection@delaware.gov. The Investor Protection Unit also encourages investors to check the registration status of financial professionals at brokercheck.finra.org and adviserinfo.sec.gov.

 

In addition, the Unit cautions investors to carefully review the terms of any third-party data aggregators used by their financial professionals to ensure that they understand who is able to view their account information, including when they move accounts to a new firm or adviser.

 

 

The Unit will continue to review the practices of third-party data aggregators.