The SEC brought settled charges against Steven J. Jacobson, an investment adviser representative with Adviser Resource Counsel (ARC), for an options trading cherry picking scheme. The SEC's complaint alleged that Jacobson engaged in option trading in ARC’s block account and failed to properly pre-allocate those trades. The complaint further alleged that Jacobson disproportionately allocated favorable option trades to his account, his mother’s account, and the accounts of three favored clients and disproportionately allocated unfavorable trades to other client accounts. Jacobson was barred from association with an investment adviser, broker-dealer or other financial industry organizations for 12 months.