Paul Renard

Former Ameriprise Financial and SII Investments stockbroker of Sheboygan and De Pere, Wisconsin (Green Bay area), Paul J. Renard (CRD# 2370574), entered into a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Department of Enforcement to resolve allegations FINRA made against him regarding violations of securities industry rules.

Paul Renard consented, without admitting or denying the allegations made against him by FINRA, to a suspension from associating with any FINRA broker-dealer, in any capacity, for a period of two years, and a fine of $60,000 in resolution of FINRA Disciplinary Proceeding No. 2011028484901. FINRA alleged that Renard, from September 2009 through June 2011, while employed by Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc., engaged in activities in violation of a host of securities industry rules. It was alleged by FINRA that Renard recommended that at least four of his customers buy and hold non-traditional exchange traded funds (ETFs) without having a reasonable basis for believing that the recommendations were suitable for those customers. Further, the recommendations were in violation of an Ameriprise firm policy which forbade the solicitation of non-traditional ETFs. FINRA alleged that Renard entered at least 330 of these transactions “unsolicited” even though they were in fact solicited transactions. Such conduct was alleged by FINRA to have violated NASD Conduct Rules 2310 and 3110 and FINRA Rule 2010.

FINRA further alleged that from September 2010 through February 2011, Renard distributed at least nine independently prepared reprints to customers without first submitting them to Ameriprise for review and approval. Renard also used a personal email account to distribute materials to clients and communicate with one customer regarding holdings in that customer’s Ameriprise account. FINRA claimed that Renard used the personal email account to evade detection and the scrutiny of Ameriprise’s compliance department. This conduct was violative of NASD Conduct Rule 2210(b) and FINRA Rule 2010 according to FINRA.