According to reports, Roger D. Stevenson, a San Benito-based financial planner with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, has been penalized by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. following a hearing by the board’s disciplinary and ethics commission.

The reports indicate that in December the Certified Financial Planner Board issued an order suspending for 180 days Stevenson’s right to use the registered certification marks that identify him as a Certified Financial Planner. Apparently, the suspension went into effect Dec. 28 and ends June 25.

The suspension followed the board’s investigation of a regulatory action by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

FINRA’s investigation involved allegations that Stevenson exercised unauthorized discretion in client accounts by failing to confirm clients’ authorization of trades on the dates the trades were executed, and by executing trades without written authorization to exercise discretion and without Stevenson’s firm, Thrivent, accepting the accounts as discretionary.

Thrivent is a faith-based, not-for-profit financial services organization with approximately 2.6 million members.  According to his FINRA Broker-Report, Stevenson is registered with Thrivent Investment Management, Inc., Thrivent’s FINRA registered broker-dealer arm.

The foregoing information was first reported in the Brownsville Herald and is being provided by The White Law Group.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.

For more information on The White Law Group, visit http://whitesecuritieslaw.com.