An irreverent Wall Street Blog
by Bill Singer
by Bill Singer
Charity Begins At Home And JP Morgan Chase Bank
September 17, 2014
For the purpose of proposing a settlement of rule violations alleged by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA"), without admitting or denying the findings, prior to a regulatory hearing, and without an adjudication of any issue, Xiao Yun Yu submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent ("AWC"), which FINRA accepted. In the Matter of Xiao Yun Yu, Respondent (2012034383201, September 9, 2014).
In 2010, Yu became registered with FINRA member firm Chase Investment Services Corp. On October 1, 2012, her registration was transferred to J.P. Morgan Securities, LLC, pursuant to a mass registration transfer but she was terminated by the firm the next day. While registered with Chase Investment Services and JP Morgan, the AWC asserts that Yu was also employed by J.P. Morgan Chase Bank ("JPMC Bank").
In Her Drawer
AWC alleges that in July 2012, Yu found three blank postal money orders totaling $1,275 in her JPMC Bank branch office, and, overnight, she left the money orders on the table in the secure employee space. Thereafter, she locked the orders in her desk drawer for what the AWC acknowledges was "safe keeping."
Charity Begins At . . .
The AWC asserts that after no one had claimed the three orders, Yu donated two of them totaling $275 to charity.
Okay, ummm . . . not exactly sure what to make of that donation but, hey, perhaps her heart was in the right place?
Except . . . Yu purportedly used the remaining $1,000 money order to pay her personal expenses.
Rob(b)in(g) Hood?
FINRA deemed Yu's conduct to be in violation of FINRA Rule 2010 and in accordance with the terms of the AWC imposed a Bar from associating with any FINRA member firm in all capacities.
Bill Singer's Comment
I have no idea whatsoever as to what to make of this case. I mean, geez, instead of turning over the money orders to the bank, Yu locks them up in her desk drawer. Okay -- I understand that she may have done that to secure the orders and I also appreciate that she did that only after having left them out in the open, overnight in fact, on the table in a secure employee's area. Not sure, however, if that's the smartest way to handle the discovery of lost property but let's give Yu some benefit of the doubt for apparently trying to do what she may have thought was the right thing.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure what to do with all that benefit of the doubt that accrued during the overnight exposure and the subsequent under-lock-and-key in the drawer given the fact that Yu helped herself to $1,000. Hey, if you wanna give her some credit for donating money that wasn't hers to begin with to charity, fine, knock yourself out. What still intrigues me, after all is said and done, was what the hell Yu was thinking, or not.
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