Ronald Morse: FINRA Suspends David Lerner Advisor

White Plains, New York financial advisor Ronald Morse (CRD# 341008) was recently sanctioned and suspended in connection with alleged rule violations. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority records show that he is currently registered as a broker with David Lerner Associates and an investment advisor with Spirit of America Management Corporation.

Mr. Morse’s BrokerCheck report discloses the recent FINRA sanction against him. Filed in November 2023, it alleged that as a representative of David Lerner Associates, he created an “updated” account profile document for a senior customer that “included inaccurate information about the customer.” Furthermore, FINRA alleged, he “affixed the customer’s signature” to the document without authorization from the customer.

FINRA’s findings state that he created the updated document after the customer complained to the firm that the information in her account profile was inaccurate. However, although his updated document “contained some of the changes the customer requested,” it nonetheless still contained inaccuracies regarding the investor’s “stated investment needs.”

Finally, FINRA found that Mr. Morse “caused his member firm to maintain inaccurate books and records” in violation of FINRA rules. In connection with these findings, FINRA issued him a fine of $5,000 and a 20-day suspension from registering with any FINRA member firm in any capacity.

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Ronald Morse holds 44 years of securities industry experience. Based in White Plains, New York, he has been a broker with David Lerner Associates since 2002 and an investment advisor with Spirit of America Management Corporation since 2018. His past registrations include Barra Analytics Securities, Liberty Patriot Securities, Oppenheimer & Company, Whitehill Capital, Dean Witter Reynolds, CS First Boston Corporation, and Merrill Lynch. His credentials include the passage of nine securities industry qualifying exams: the Registered Principal Examination, or Series 40; the General Securities Principal Examination, or Series 24; the Registered Representative Examination, or Series 1; the AMEX Put and Call Exam, or PC; the Interest Rate Options Examination, or Series 5; the General Securities Representative Examination, or Series 7; the Securities Industry Essentials Examination, or SIE; the Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, or Series 63; and the Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination, or Series 65. He is licensed in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, NewHampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. (Information current as of December 4, 2023.)

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