Mark Carter: FINRA Suspends Ex-Pruco Advisor over Options Trades

Former Charlotte, North Carolina financial advisor Mark Carter (CRD# 6387371) was recently suspended and fined in connection with alleged rule violations. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority records show that he was most recently registered as a broker with Pruco Securities and that he has received an investor complaint that reached a six-figure settlement.

A Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (No. 2024081675801) describes FINRA’s complaint against Mr. Carter. Filed in November 2025, it alleges that he recommended unsuitable options trades to two customers. According to the Letter, both customers had investment objectives of “capital appreciation” and specified that they had “long”  time horizons for their investments. In spite of this, Mr. Carter allegedly recommended and placed a high volume of options trades in the customers’ accounts, ultimately conducting “more than 2,200 option trades” in their accounts that resulted “in annualized cost-to-equity ratios averaging 42%, meaning that [the customers] stood little chance of making money from the trading (or even breaking even).” While the customers suffered losses of more than $600,000, or 99% of their accounts’ value, according to the Letter, Mr. Carter received $6,667 in commissions in connection with the trades.

FINRA’s findings state that the “options trading recommendations were not in Customer A and B’s best interest, and he lacked reasonable grounds to believe the recommendations were suitable for them.” It goes on to state further that during the last seven months of 2023, he did not have a reasonable basis to believe the transactions were not excessive, or that they were in the customers’ best interest. In addition, FINRA found that Mr. Carter exercised discretionary authority in the customers’ accounts without prior written authorization, and that he marked solicited trades as unsolicited. Finding that he violated industry rules, FINRA suspended him for nine months, imposed a fine of $20,000, and ordered him to pay $6,773 in disgorgement.

Mr. Carter’s BrokerCheck report discloses one investor complaint. Filed in 2024, it alleges that as a representative of Pruco Securities, he made unauthorized trades in several retirement accounts. The complaint reached a settlement of $672,038.58.

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Mark Carter holds nine years of securities industry experience. Most recently based in Charlotte, North Carolina, he was registered as a broker with Pruco Securities from 2014 until 2024. He is no longer registered with any state or broker-dealer firm and has been suspended by FINRA. (Information current as of November 20, 2025.)

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