William Brian Butler (CRD # 1554307, Registered Representative, Baldwin, New York) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was censured, fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for six months. The fine must be paid either immediately upon Butler’s reassociation with a FINRA member firm following his suspension, or prior to the filing of any application or request for relief from any statutory disqualification, whichever is earlier. Without admitting or denying the findings, Butler consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that he engaged in stock loans and borrows with a family member who was a trader in the securities lending department at another member firm. The findings stated that the trades were often below the rates of other transactions in the same securities Butler made on the same day at his member firm, and he sometimes agreed to terms less favorable for the firm than those originally offered by the other member firm. The findings also stated that Butler entered into conduit, or what the firm described as “put-through,” securities lending transactions with the other member firm, although it was not necessary to do so.The findings also included that Butler gave the family member inappropriate access to his firm’s secondary “push list,” which is the list of securities the firm needed to borrow or lend after its initial list of needs was met. FINRA found that Butler sent the “push list” to the family member before he distributed it more broadly to the market and his other counterparties.

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