According to FINRA, Brendan Ercole was fined $7,500 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in all capacities for 15 business days for improperly removing non-public personal customer information from his member firm without the firm or customers' knowledge or consent.

In anticipation of joining another firm, Ercole downloaded and sent to his personal email address unencrypted documents containing non-public personal information of over 200 customers, including dates of birth, driver's license numbers, and social security numbers. Additionally, Ercole saved several different types of firm documents containing customer non-public personal information such as dates of birth and social security numbers to a drive external to the firm. Ercole resigned from the firm and joined a new firm that same day.

Ercole used the customers' non-public personal information he removed from the firm to populate a separate customer information database for use at his new firm. Prior to resigning, Ercole also compiled pre-filled new account packets containing non-public personal information to be sent to existing firm customers once he registered with his new firm to transition the customers. These pre-filled forms were saved on an electronic drive external to the firm's secure system and were disseminated to customers using email or physical mail once Ercole registered with the new firm.

Investors should understand that firms have strict policies protecting customer information, and representatives are prohibited from removing this information when they leave. This case illustrates a common but serious violation where departing representatives take customer information to facilitate transitioning customers to a new firm. By removing unencrypted documents containing sensitive information like social security numbers and driver's license numbers, Ercole exposed over 200 customers to potential identity theft and privacy violations.