Renegades CEO, Chris Roumayeh, is facing disciplinary action from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) following accusations of soliciting investments in the organization. Roumayeh is said to have “purchased a franchise involved in the professional video gaming industry” during the time period of June 2014 and June 2019, presumed to be Renegades. He was simultaneously serving as a general securities representative for American investing and wealth management company Merrill Lynch. His disciplinary report reads “He also formed five corporate entities related to the Franchise’s operations, serving as an officer and director for them, and solicited prospective investors in the Franchise.” Roumayeh is also alleged to have procured an investment $5.5 million from an unnamed publicly-traded company in exchange for shares in the Franchise.
His failure to notify Merrill Lynch of this venture is cited as a violation of FINRA rules 3270, 2010, and 3280. As the owner, he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Franchise, which is correlated with language in rule 3270 in the disciplinary report. The rule forbids registered members of Merrill Lynch from working or receiving compensation under another person via “any business activity outside the scope of the relationship with his or her member firm unless he or she has provided prior written notice to the member.” Rule 2010 is compounded onto this, which requires “associated persons to observe high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade.” The $5.5 million investment comes into play with rule 3280, which prohibits “any person associated with a member from participating in any private securities transaction without first providing written notice to the member firm.”
Roumayeh has been fined $15,000 and give a 21-month ban from the brokerage industry. 21 months from May would put the end of the suspension somewhere in February of 2022. This is classified as Roumayeh’s first disciplinary incident, and he has signed the report conceding any objection to the accusations.