Guy Wyser-Pratte: FINRA Suspends New York Broker; Insider Trading Allegations

A disciplinary action taken by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority against former Bedford, New York broker Guy Wyser-Pratte (CRD# 473794) suspended him over allegations he failed to disclose a finding by French securities regulators that he committed insider trading. A former representative of Wyser-Pratte & Company, he was suspended for six months and fined $9,000.

According to a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (No. 2016047679301) dated January 2019, the French stock market regulatory organization Autorité des marchés financiers, or AMF, found in 2013 that Guy Wyser-Pratte had “traded while in possession of inside information” and issued him a fine of 1.3 million euros. In spite of this, according to FINRA, he “willfully failed to amend” his Uniform Application for Securities Industry Regulation or Transfer between July 2013 and November 2016.

FINRA’s findings state specifically that FINRA by-laws require that such an amendment “must be filed no later than 10 days after” a FINRA associated person receives a statutory disqualification, such as a finding by foreign securities regulators that the individual violated a foreign securities statute. The findings also note that FINRA Rule 1122 states that no person associated with a FINRA member “shall file with FINRA information with respect to membership or registration which is incomplete or inaccurate so as to be misleading, or which could in any way tend to mislead, or fail to correct such filing after notice thereof.”

In spite of this, according to FINRA, Wyser-Pratte did not amend his form to disclose the statutory disqualification by the AMF, which he received notice of on July 25, 2013, until November 14, 2016. FINRA found that his failure to timely amend the form within a 10-day period constituted a violation of FINRA Rules and by-laws. As a result of the foregoing alleged conduct, he was suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for six months. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $9,000.

Guy Wyser-Pratte is not currently registered as a broker or investment advisor. His employment history includes Wyser-Pratte & Company in Bedford, New York, DePaolis & Company, Prudential-Bache Securities, Bache Halsey Stuart, and Bache & Company. He currently holds no state licenses and has passed three securities industry qualification examinations.