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Read MoreAl Vanderlaan: FINRA Suspends Ex-WestPark Advisor over GWG L-Bonds
Former Watertown, South Dakota financial advisor Al Vanderlaan (CRD# 1172406) was recently sanctioned in connection with allegedly unsuitable GWG L bond sales. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority records show that he was previously registered as a broker with WestPark Capital, and before that, Sandlapper Securities.
A Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (No. 2021070498106) describes FINRA’s disciplinary action against Mr. Vanderlaan. As it explains, FINRA found that he unsuitably recommended investments in speculative, unrated GWG L bonds to two customers. Both customers, according to the Letter, had a moderate risk tolerance and an investment objective of growth and income. One was a senior citizen. In both cases, FINRA found, Mr. Vanderlaan’s recommendations were not in the customer’s best interests, and resulted in more than 20% of each customer’s liquid net worth being invested in alternative investments. FINRA found that his recommendations constituted willful violations of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation Best Interest, as well as FINRA Rule 2010. As a result, FINRA suspended him for three months and ordered him to a pay a fine of $10,000, as well as restitution exceeding $6,000.
Mr. Vanderlaan’s BrokerCheck report discloses multiple investor complaints. The most recent, filed in 2023, alleges that as a WestPark Capital representative, he breached contract, misrepresented investments in GWG L bonds, breached his fiduciary duty, and violated state securities statutes. The pending complaint alleges damages between $100,000 and $500,000.
A second investor complaint, also filed in 2023, similarly alleges that he misrepresented investments in GWG L bonds, violated Regulation Best Interest, breached his fiduciary duty, and acted negligently. The pending complaint alleges damages of $105,000.
A third investor complaint, filed in 2023, also alleges that as a representative of WestPark Capital, he recommended unsuitable investments in GWG. The pending complaint alleges damages of $315,000.
According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Al Vanderlaan holds 38 years of securities industry experience. Most recently based in Watertown, South Dakota, he was registered as a broker with WestPark Capital from 2019 until 2022. His past registrations include Sandlapper Securities, CapWest Securities, United Securities Alliance, John G. Kinnard & Company, and Farmland Securities Company. His credentials include the passage of four securities industry qualifying exams: the Operations Professional Exam, or Series 99TO; the Corporate Securities Limited Representative Examination, or Series 62; the Securities Industry Essentials Examination, or SIE; and the Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, or Series 63. He has been suspended from associating with any FINRA member in all capacities for a period of three months. (Information current as of January 23, 2025.)
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