2019
A Florida investment adviser paid a $5,000 fine for doing work for Texas clients while not registered with the Texas Securities Commissioner.
The fine and a reprimand were part of the Disciplinary Order that Commissioner Travis J. Iles entered on Nov. 5. The commissioner also granted the investment adviser registration of the firm, Saint Petersburg, Fla.-based Frugal Financial Retirement Plan Services LLC.
Frugal Financial Retirement Plan Services had acted as an investment adviser for Texas clients since June 2015, but did not have enough clients – six or more – to require registration with the Securities Commissioner.
In April 2018, the firm had at least six clients in Texas, meaning it lost its exemption from state registration requirements. The firm did not register and continued to advise the clients until June 2019.
The Disciplinary Order is the fourth one entered in 2019 against out-of-state firms that acquired enough Texas clients to require registration but continued to do advisory work without being registered. The firms have paid a total of $45,000 in fines to the general revenue fund of the State of Texas.
The previous orders in 2019 were against Global Asset Management Group Inc., Integrity RIA LLC, and FRA Wealth Management LLC.