North Dakota Broker Charged With Operating Without A License
July 25--A longtime North Dakota broker has been issued a cease and desist order from North Dakota's top securities regulator after an investigation found she continued to act as a brokerage agent after losing her license.
Susan L. Welo, who worked most recently at Cetera Advisor Networks in Mayville, N.D., has been doing business under the trade name Welo Wealth Management across eastern North Dakota since 2009.
But according to North Dakota Securities Commissioner Karen Tyler, Welo has been doing business as a broker, despite being fired from her securities firm last year.
Welo was dismissed by Cetera on Oct. 3, 2016, ending her registration as a securities agent in the state. Securities agents must be registered with an established securities firm in North Dakota to manage accounts and provide financial advice.
Deputy Commissioner Michael Daley told the Herald the Securities Department received a investor complaint that led to an investigation of Welo's work from her home office in West Fargo from November 2016 to this month.
The agency found Welo took custody of client funds for transfer to Cetera's clearing firm despite lacking registration. She has also recommended liquidation of client securities for investment in other firms and the transfer of securities accounts from Cetera to other broker firms, all lacking a license, according to the order.
Welo worked 27 years as a registered broker, starting with PaineWebber in 1988.
She will have 15 days after receiving the order to request a hearing in front of an administrative law judge or obey the order.
The Securities Department has the power to assess up to $10,000 in fines for each violation of the Securities Act, but Daley said the commissioner is not levying civil penalties against Welo at this point.
Welo has been working in North Dakota since 1999, according to the order. She worked in LaMoure, N.D., before moving to Mayville in 2009, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Her FIRNA profile states she left Cetera after allegations that she failed to disclose that she provided a loan to a client while working at another broker firm in the past and allowed an assistant to sign her name on documents.
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