Laura Barnes: Moloney Advisor Fined over GWG Sales

A recent Securities and Exchange Commission action against Winterset, Iowa financial advisor Laura Barnes (CRD# 4482198) alleged that she recommended unsuitable investments in GWG L bonds. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority records show that she is registered as a broker with Moloney Securities.

Ms. Barnes’ BrokerCheck report discloses the SEC’s administrative order against her. Filed in September 2024, it alleged that she unsuitably recommended investments in GWG L bonds to retail customers, and that she failed to exercise reasonable diligence into these investments. As the SEC describes, GWG’s disclosures regarding its L bond products warned investors that they were highly risky, speculative, and suitable only for investors “with substantial financial resources and no need for liquidity.” The disclosures also cautioned that GWG would use some of the investments’ proceeds to repay existing investors, and further that there was “substantial doubt regarding its ability to continue as a going concern.”

In spite of these disclosures, Moloney Securities and its representatives recommended the products to investors “for whom they did not have a reasonable basis to believe the recommendations were in the customers’ best interest based on the customers’ investment profiles and the potential risks, rewards, and costs associated with the L Bonds.” As a result of these findings, the SEC ordered Ms. Barnes to pay a fine of $12,500 and disgorgement of $12,744.

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Laura Barnes holds 19 years of securities industry experience. Based in Winterset, Iowa, she has been registered as a broker with Moloney Securities since 2012. She was previously registered with Eagle One Investments in Winterset, Iowa from 2005 until 2012. Her credentials include the passage of three securities industry qualifying exams: the General Securities Representative Examination, or Series 7; the Securities Industry Essentials Examination, or SIE; and the Uniform Combined State Law Examination, or Series 66. She is licensed in Iowa. (Information current as of October 6, 2024.)

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