← Broker database 2024-07-22
Brian Carroll Beh Suspended for Undisclosed Outside Business Activity and Misleading Communications
According to FINRA, Brian Carroll Beh was fined $7,500 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in all capacities for two months on July 22, 2024, for participating in an outside business activity without providing prior written notice to his member firm and for forwarding marketing materials that violated Capital Acquisition Broker rules.
Beh provided consulting and advisory services for a start-up company without providing prior written notice to his member firm. He recommended potential board candidates to the company, distributed marketing materials to potential investors, and organized visits to the company by investors and business partners. For his services, Beh received $111,937 and shares of restricted company stock as compensation.
Additionally, Beh forwarded marketing materials to potential investors that contained misleading statements. He sent an email forwarding marketing materials to 13 sophisticated potential investors about investment opportunities with a venture capital firm. The materials contained misleading statements about the performance of previous funds and statements about fund performance that were misleading and promissory. In his email, Beh made unwarranted claims that other investors had already committed to the fund and that companies in the fund had increased in value.
Beh also sent emails forwarding marketing materials about the start-up company to four sophisticated investors that contained performance statements that were promissory, comparisons that were misleading, and failed to provide a sound basis for evaluating certain forecasts. The assumptions underlying the forecasts or any risks that could impede the achievement of those forecasts were not disclosed. In addition, the materials did not provide a fair and balanced discussion of the risks of the offerings.
The two-month suspension, in effect from August 19, 2024, through October 18, 2024, reflects the importance of disclosing outside business activities and ensuring that all marketing communications are fair, balanced, and not misleading.