Linda Sokol Francis: FINRA Bars Ex-LPL Advisor

Former Brookfield, Illinois financial advisor Linda Sokol Francis (CRD# 811073) was recently sanctioned and barred in connection with alleged rule violations. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority records show that she was previously registered as a broker with LPL Financial and Waddell & Reed.

A Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (No. 2023077019901) describes FINRA’s disciplinary action against Ms. Sokol Francis. Filed in April 2025, it describes allegations that she refused to cooperate with a FINRA investigation into her conduct. As it states, the investigation concerned the circumstances into her 2024 firing by LPL Financial. In February 2025, FINRA sent her a request to provide documents and informations, as it is empowered to do by Rule 8210. That rule also states that associated persons may not refuse to comply with such requests. In March 2025, according to the Letter, she informed FINRA that she had received the request but would not produce the requested documents. Finding that she violated both FINRA Rule 8210 and Rule 2010, which requires brokers to observe high standards of commercial honor, the regulator barred her from associating with any member firm in all capacities.

Ms. Sokol Francis’s BrokerCheck report discloses her termination from LPL Financial. Filed in May 2024, it states that the firm fired her in connection with allegations that she “[u]tilized discretion in brokerage accounts without written authorization.”

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Ms. Sokol Francis holds 48 years of securities industry experience. Most recently based in Brookfield, Illinois, she was last registered with LPL Financial from 2021 until 2024. She was previously registered with Waddell & Reed in Brookfield from 1975 until 2021. Her credentials include the passage of seven securities industry qualifying exams: the Investment Company Products/Variable Contracts Representative Examination, or Series 6TO; the General Securities Representative Examination, or Series 7TO; the Direct Participation Programs Representative Examination, or Series 22TO; the Securities Industry Essentials Examination, or SIE; the Registered Representative Examination, or Series 1; the Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination, or Series 65; and the Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, or Series 63. She has been barred from acting as a broker or otherwise associating with a broker-dealer firm. (Information current as of April 2, 2025.)

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