Finra orders Morgan Stanley to return $200,000 in variable annuity sale

Arbitration panel says prospectus, fees may not have been sufficiently revealed beforehand

In a continuing focus on improper sales of variable annuities, a Finra arbitrator has ordered Morgan Stanley to rescind a client’s variable annuity and return her $200,000 investment.

While the arbitrator denied the request of client Jacqueline Peters for $55,333 in damages, the arbitrator also denied the request of the respondents — broker Helen Holmes Timpe of Newport Beach, Calif., and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney — to have the matter expunged from Ms. Timpe’s CRD record.

(More: Finra cracks down on faulty variable annuity exchanges.)

The causes of the action relate to the sale of a SunAmerica Polaris Platinum III variable annuity in November 2013. Finra decided that based on the documents presented at the arbitration and admitted into evidence, it is not clear that Ms. Timpe and Morgan Stanley had provided the variable annuity’s prospectus to Ms. Peters prior to its purchase.

“Therefore, it is not clear that claimant was properly advised of the fees charged by SunAmerica for the investment,” Finra determined.

According to Finra’s BrokerCheck website, Timpe is no longer registered and her tenure with Morgan Stanley ended April 5.