Financial Advisor Daniel Peltier was served a 10-month suspension and was ordered to pay a $40,000 fine over accusations by securities regulators of market manipulation. During the time period of the alleged misconduct, Peltier was a financial advisor at RBC Capital Markets, LLC (“RBC”).
According to FINRA, the accusations of market manipulation center on an “over-the-counter stock” called Mix 1 Life, Inc. “(MIXX”). “Over-the-counter” stock refers to stock that is not traded on a major exchange; rather, individuals trade the stock via phone and computer. Over-the-counter trading is often used for companies that cannot not meet the requirements of, or have been delisted from, a major exchange.
In July 2017, FINRA found that Peltier placed approximately 82 buy limit orders for MIXX in his and his son’s accounts – after recommending the purchase of the stock to five RBC clients. Peltier’s buy orders exceeded 20 percent of the market volume for MIXX on 46 days during the time period at issue: July 2014 to February 2015. On those 46 days, FINRA found that Peltier placed over 60 buy limit orders to purchase MIXX, nearly all of which were matched in an amount and price with a recently placed sell order at another broker-dealer. His orders had the effect of stabilizing the price of MIXX at or around $6 per share. FINRA concluded that Peltier should have known that his buy orders were being used to facilitate a market manipulation. Additionally, FINRA found that Peltier mismarked trade tickets as “unsolicited,” when they were actually “solicited” investments, and that Peltier did not review MIXX financial statements to determine whether there was a reasonable basis to recommend that his clients purchase MIXX.
If you invested with Daniel Peltier or are concerned about over the counter stock, call the experienced investment attorneys at Meyer Wilson today for a free consultation.
Correction: On May 8, 2018, this article was revised and corrected. The original article mistakenly referenced broker-dealer Raymond James rather than RBC Capital Markets. The conduct referenced in the above article occurred while Mr. Peltier was affiliated with RBC Capital Markets and not, as the article initially indicated, with Raymond James. Meyer Wilson apologizes for the mistake of identifying the wrong broker-dealer in the initial article.
