The Securities and Exchange Commission obtained final judgments against a California-based advisor and his firm accused of fraud and improper disclosure of client nonpublic personal information, AdvisorHub reported.
Parker Terrill Austin and the investment advisory firm he established, Embarcadero Capital Advisors, Inc, did not admit or deny the allegations but consented to the entry of the judgments that include a three-year bar from the industry and $266,000 in penalties.
The SEC’s complaint, filed in 2025, relates to Austin’s efforts to obtain clients for Embarcadero, a firm he planned to launch while employed at a different investment advisory firm. On at least one occasion, Austin allegedly sent nonpublic personal information belonging to his then-employer’s clients to his future business partner at Embarcadero.
“The complaint also alleged that Austin, while at his former employer, breached his fiduciary duty to a client by placing the client in investments that were contrary to the client’s instructions,” the SEC stated. “Upon learning of Austin’s misconduct, as alleged, Austin’s former employer terminated Austin. Shortly after being terminated, Austin launched his advisory firm, Embarcadero, and, as alleged in the complaint, engaged in a scheme to fraudulently induce clients to join Embarcadero by misrepresenting Austin’s disciplinary history and termination at his prior firm on Embarcadero’s website and in other publicly available filings Embarcadero was required to make with the SEC.”
It was reported that after launching Embarcadero, Austin allegedly concealed his termination by publishing an old Form CRS that claimed that the firm and its partners had clean records. When the SEC launched its investigation in 2024, Austin was alleged to have filed an amended U4 blaming his assistant for the data breach and saying his only mistake was not reporting the violation.
Under the judgments, Austin and Embarcadero are permanently enjoined from violating Sections 206(1), 206(2), and 207 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and, with respect to Austin, Rule 10 of Regulation S-P, which prohibits the sharing of private client information with unaffiliated third parties without prior notice and an opportunity to opt out.
Austin was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $118,225, and was enjoined from acting as, or being associated with, any broker, dealer, or investment adviser for a period of three years. The final judgment as to Embarcadero orders it to pay disgorgement in the amount of $25,000, plus prejudgment interest thereon in the amount of $2,505.06, and a civil penalty in the amount of $120,000.
A lawyer representing Austin and Embarcadero did not immediately return a request for comment, and Austin could not be reached, AdvisorHub reported.
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