Dempsey Lord Smith, LLC (CRD #141238, Rome, Georgia)

March 21, 2022 – An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured, fined $70,000, and ordered to pay $29,840, plus interest, in partial restitution to customers. The amount of restitution being paid to customers is equal to the commissions the customers paid in connection with their investments. Three of the customers at issue in this AWC will not receive partial restitution because they previously settled their claims with the firm. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it sold limited partnership interests in a company without informing the customers that the issuer had not timely filed its audited financial statements with the SEC or the reasons for the delay. The findings stated that this was material information that should have been disclosed. The firm’s sales of the limited partnership interests in the company totaled $323,000, and the firm received a total of $25,840 in commissions from the sales. The findings also stated that firm registered representatives recommended and sold securities for the issuer that were unsuitable in light of the customers’ investment profiles. All of the sales were reviewed and approved by firm principals and the firm received a total of $24,000 in commissions from the sales. (FINRA Case #2019061213901)