Bob Forsyth: Charlottesville Financial Advisor Suspended

A disciplinary action taken by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority against Charlottesville, North Carolina broker and investment advisor Bob Forsyth (CRD# 1425529) suspended him over allegations he engaged in discretionary trading without proper authorization. A representative of Davenport & Company, Forsyth was suspended for 15 days and ordered to pay a fine of $2,500.

According to a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (No. 2018059155701) dated July 2019, Bob Forsyth was registered with Davenport & Company, when in May and June 2017, he effected 44 discretionary trades in the accounts of 20 customers. FINRA states that he executed the transactions in question without the customers’ prior written authorization to exercise discretion, although he had received express or implied authority from some of them. FINRA’s findings add that his member firm had not provided approval of any of the accounts in question for discretionary trading. FINRA found these activities to constitute violations of NASD Rule 2510(b), which forbids representatives from making discretionary trades without customers’ prior written authorization and firms’ prior approval of the firms as discretionary, and FINRA Rule 2010, which requires representatives to abide by high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade. As a result of the foregoing alleged conduct, Bob Forsyth was suspended from associating with any FINRA member firm in any capacity for 15 days. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $2,500.

Bob Forsyth is currently registered with Davenport & Company in Charlottesville, North Carolina, where he has been registered since 1990. He was previously registered with Anderson & Strudwick in Richmond, Virginia, from 1985 until 1990. He currently holds 24 state licenses—including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Washington—and has passed five securities industry qualification examinations.