Retired Morgan Stanley rep fined for unsuitable advice

Timothy Gibbons over-concentrated elderly clients in energy investment.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined retired Morgan Stanley rep Timothy Thomas Gibbons $20,000, suspended him for 18 months, and required that he pay almost $717,000 in restitution to five elderly clients.

Finra said that Mr. Gibbons recommended that the five customers invest 65% to 79% of their account values in a single high-risk energy stock. The customers were between 72 and 90 years of age, and Finra said some of Mr. Gibbons’ recommendations were unsuitable for each customer based on their age, risk tolerance, investment objectives and financial circumstances. In all, the broker’s recommendations resulted in collective realized and unrealized losses of over $960,000 in the five customers’ accounts.

Mr. Gibbons accepted and consented to Finra’s findings without admitting nor denying them.

He began his career in 1973 at Howard Weil Labouisse Friedrichs and moved to Legg Mason in 1988. That firm’s retail business was moved to Citigroup in 2006, which in turn was incorporated into Morgan Stanley in 2009.