EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to add a more precise description of FINRA’s ruling.

The recently departed chairman and majority owner of a Beverly Hills investment banking and brokerage firm has been banned for life by the brokerage industry, according to a Jan. 8 regulatory filing.

Trevor Michael Saliba, who stepped down at the end of the year as chairman of NMS Capital Advisors lost the appeal to a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. panel from his lifetime banishment.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. or FINRA, is a Washington D.C. nonprofit that the Securities and Exchange Commission authorized to regulate brokers.

The FINRA banned Saliba for life in December 2017, but it let Saliba keep his license pending an appeal.

The 29-page appellate decision found that Saliba acted as a principle for his brokerage firm after he was instructed not to perform brokerage duties, and provided false testimony, false information and falsified documents to regulators.

In an interview, Saliba said he would appeal the FINRA decision. He has the option to take the matter up with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which can overrule FINRA’s ban.

NMS Capitol Group was No. 2 on the Business Journal’s 2018 list of fastest growing private companies.

Media and entertainment reporter Matthew Blake can be reached at (323)556-8332 or [email protected]