Updated: Nadia Cavner no longer licensed to sell securities

Last edited 2:12 p.m., Feb. 3, 2014

Prominent Springfield financial adviser Nadia Cavner has forfeited her ability to professionally manage investments as part of the sale of her financial services firm, according to a representative of the acquiring company.

Cavner’s broker profile at FINRA.org shows this morning she is not licensed in the United States under the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

On Jan. 14, Cavner sold the Nadia Cavner Group - the financial services firm she started in May - for an undisclosed amount to Overland Park, Kan.-based Lawing Financial Inc. According to a Lawing representative who spoke to Springfield Business Journal last month, the adviser will serve in a temporary role during the transition, but Lawing had no plans to hire Cavner on a long-term basis.

Reached at her office this morning at 2620 E. Normandy St., Ste. 108, Cavner declined an interview and referred all questions to Alex Greenwood, a Lawing Financial spokesman via Alexander G Public Relations LLC. 

“As part of the acquisition, she planned to give up her securities registration to devote more time for consulting to Lawing Financial and her personal philanthropic efforts,” Greenwood said via email. “We look forward to her being involved and engaged to help with the many client relationships that are part of this process. Our primary goal is to make this a seamless transition for our clients, and Nadia Cavner's work as a consultant is vital.”

Last April, Cavner pleaded guilty in federal court, acknowledging intentions to injure, harass or intimidate her college-age daughter’s ex-boyfriend Patrick McFarland. In May, Cavner left BancorpSouth Inc. (NYSE: BXS), where she had been employed for eight years, and opened her firm immediately southeast from her old office.

In August, Cavner was sentenced to five years of probation and six months of home detention.

According to securities regulations, a felony would statutorily disqualify Cavner from selling U.S. securities for a decade. However, financial advisers can appeal FINRA’s disqualifications and licenses are not pulled until an independent board conducts a full review. Three months ago, an anonymous source contacted SBJ and media partner KSPR to say a hearing had been scheduled in the case on Nov. 7. Neither FINRA nor Cavner would confirm or deny that a hearing had been held on the matter.

FINRA spokeswoman Nancy Condon declined to comment this morning on Cavner’s status beyond what was available on the organization’s Broker Check platform. She said details of any related decisions would be available on the site once they are reached. Michelle Ong, another FINRA spokeswomen, has said the proceedings of the regulatory body are not open to the public.

Cavner has 21 years of experience in the securities industry and was registered as a broker with Cambridge Investment Research Inc. the last eight years.