After FINRA barred former Montage Securities (San Diego, CA) broker Harold Francis Couglar for unauthorized and undisclosed outside business activities in 2018, the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFP Board) issued Couglar a 2019 suspension.
The CFP Board imposed the automatic interim suspension on San Diego stockbroker Harry Francis Couglar (CRD #1193367) in the wake of FINRA AWC #2017052715901, which barred Couglar for the undisclosed business activities and for selling away and outside the scope of his registration at Montage Securities.
According to FINRA, Couglar received nearly $103,000 in compensation after effecting 2,800 trades involving a total of $30 million, falsely telling regulators on compliance questionnaires that he did not have discretionary authority over non-family outside securities accounts nor accounts held with FINRA-member firms when he did possess such authority over 87 customer accounts at CBIZ Financial Solutions and Montage Securities.
Furthermore, Montage Securities' affiliated national wealth advisory firm, Mariner Wealth Advisors, discharged Couglar in 2016, while the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation issued a cease and desist order with final resolution in April 2019 against Couglar for effecting transactions in accounts away from his firms without informing them, finding that he earned over $100,000 for trades in these accounts and earned $27,000 for tax preparation services that he likewise failed to disclose to his member firms.
Couglar's Oregon connection is a firm named CS Planning Corp. in Portland, OR, while Couglar's employment history additionally lists an LLC entitled Couglar Wealth Management, which is based in San Diego, California.
Couglar's file indicates he started working at both CS Planning Corp and Couglar Wealth Management in December 2016, the same month that Mariner Wealth Advisors and Montage Securities filed employment separation after allegations disclosures in which they announced Couglar's termination.
If you have invested with former Montage Securities broker Harry Francis Couglar or with any registered representative or financial adviser who has sold securities away from their employing firm, or whose unauthorized use of discretion in your accounts has proven harmful to your investments or interests, please call our experienced FINRA arbitration attorneys at The Law Offices of Jonathan W. Evans & Associates at (800) 699-1881 for an investigation and consultation.