Bill Woods aka William Forrest Winchester Investigation
June 2022- Chattanooga, TN
According to publicly available records Bill Woods (aka William Forrest Winchester), a stockbroker who formerly worked with Raymond James Financial Services and LPL Financial discloses a regulatory sanction, a prior customer dispute, two pending customer disputes and a termination from employment.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is the agency that licenses and regulates stockbrokers and brokerage firms. FINRA requires brokers and brokerage firms to report customer complaints and disputes as well as regulatory sanctions. In addition brokers are required to disclose certain financial matters such as personal bankruptcies, judgments and liens.
In 6/2020 Tennessee securities regulators alleged that Bill Woods engaged in dishonest and unethical practices by failing to disclose to his firm, three loans with three different clients either initially or through annual compliance questionnaires. His sanctions were a fine of $45,000 paid by Woods individually.
FINRA case #18-01388, filed by a Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. customer, alleged breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, negligent supervision, suitability, excessive turnover, breach of contract, negligent hiring, selling away and violations of FINRA conduct rules. The case settled for $7,500.
In FINRA case 21-02846, filed by an LPL Financial/Raymond James Financial customer alleged that Woods concealed the amount of funds deposited into her account from her grandfather, and later borrowed funds from the customer’s account without her knowledge during the period from 3/2009 to 11/2021. The case is still pending and damages are unspecified.
In FINRA case 21-066484, filed by an LPLFinancial / Raymond James Financial customer alleged that Woods misrepresented that her grandfather, a client also of Woods, had set up a trust account for her with Woods as trustee and that she believes the account had been set up in her name and that Woods misrepresented that it was a trust to hide alleged conversion of funds from the account. The alleged damages are $3,000,000 and the case is currently pending.
In 2/2020, Woods was discharged from employment with Raymond James Financial Services after his failure to disclose a business loan arrangement with several clients, including a promissory note with a client related to his role as executor of the client’s father’s estate.
Woods was employed by Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. from 6/2012 until 3/2020. After leaving Raymond James he was employed briefly by Cadaret Grant. Before that time he was employed by LPL Financial from 9/2007 until 7/2012.
If you have questions about an account handled by Bill Woods (aka William Forrest Winchester), call to discuss your options.
Rex Securities Law , with offices in Boca Raton, FL, and Austin, TX, provides representation to investors nationwide who are seeking recovery of investment losses due to the negligence or fraud of stockbrokers and broker dealers. If you have questions about how your account has been handled, call to speak with an experienced securities attorney.
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