Atlanta Broker William Darby Suspended, Fined $7,500

William Darby (CRD# 1659917), a broker and investment adviser associated with Stifel Nicolaus & Company, has been sanctioned by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in connection to allegations involving unauthorized sales. Formerly a representative of UBS Financial Services in Atlanta, Georgia, Darby was issued a 45-day suspension and a fine of $7,500.

According to a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (No. 2018060504601) dated December 2019, William Darby was associated with UBS Financial Services when, in October 2018, a hacker sent him two emails from a customer’s email account, requesting the execution of “three wire transfers totaling $511,870 from the customer’s account to outside bank accounts.” FINRA states that Darby was not aware the emails originated from an “imposter,” and accordingly directed the execution of the transfers. He allegedly “falsely advised his sales assistant” on two instances, saying he had received verbal confirmation from the client for the transactions in question. As such, the assistant “entered that false information into the Firm’s wire request attestation forms,” resulting in the firm having inaccurate books and records, in contravention of FINRA rules. The findings state further that in order to finance the wire transfers, Darby effected two sales of securities in the client’s account, totaling $525,896. FINRA states that he did this without the customer’s knowledge or authorization, also violating FINRA rules. As a result of the foregoing alleged conduct, William Darby was suspended from associating with any FINRA member firm for 45 days. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $7,500.

William Darby has been registered with Stifel Nicolaus & Company’s branch office in Atlanta, Georgia since 2018. His previous registrations include UBS Financial Services, Goldman Sachs & Company, Wachovia Securities, and Merrill Lynch. He has passed five securities industry qualifying examinations and his BrokerCheck report lists five state securities licenses. (Information current as of May 12, 2020.)