Securities Lawyers Blog
According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker Todd Leightey (Leightey), currently associated with Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC, has at least one disclosable event. These events include one regulatory event, alleging that Leightey recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.
FINRA BrokerCheck shows a final customer complaint on May 16, 2025.
Without admitting or denying the findings, Leightey consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he recommended purchases of variable annuities to three customers without a reasonable basis to believe that the transactions were suitable based on the customers’ age, financial situation and needs, liquidity needs, and investment time horizon, among other factors. The findings stated that Leightey’s recommendation to a married couple, one of whom was a senior, to purchase a $100,000 variable annuity contract resulted in more than half of the customers’ net worth being invested in variable annuities. In addition, Leightey recommended another customer purchase a $6,000 variable annuity when the customer did not have any interest or need for the particular features of a variable annuity. The findings also stated that in connection with variable annuity applications submitted to his member firm for approval by a principal, Leightey inaccurately stated that these three customers intended to utilize the annuitization and death benefit features of the purchased variable annuities and misstated two customers’ intended investment horizons. This caused the firm to collect and maintain inaccurate information about these transactions and customers.