According to FINRA, Brian Michael Moran was fined $10,000, suspended from association with any FINRA member in a Financial and Operations Principal (FINOP) capacity for three months, and required to requalify by examination before acting as a FINOP.

As his firm's FINOP, Moran was responsible for calculating net capital and filing FOCUS reports. He also had authority to suspend the firm's business operations if net capital fell below required minimums.

Moran was aware that three corporate resolutions for capital contributions from the firm's parent were backdated. Despite this knowledge, he approved net capital computations based on the backdated dates rather than actual execution dates, resulting in incorrect calculations. He also prepared and filed inaccurate FOCUS reports.

Moran knew the firm was below its minimum required net capital on 45 days in amounts up to approximately $2 million, yet permitted the firm to continue conducting business. He failed to file any net capital deficiency notifications with FINRA and the SEC when initially required, only filing notifications 51 to 54 days after becoming aware of the deficiencies.

Moran also caused the firm to fail to maintain sufficient customer reserve account balances. He either failed to perform reserve calculations or performed them incorrectly by treating customer deposits awaiting clearance as debits, resulting in deficiencies up to approximately $220,000.

The suspension is in effect from November 3, 2025, through February 2, 2026.

For investors, FINOPs play a critical role in ensuring broker-dealers maintain adequate capital to protect customers. When FINOPs fail to perform their responsibilities properly, customer assets may be at risk.