Articles Posted in FINRA AWC

FINRA has fined Aegis Capital Corp. $550,000 for failing to implement required anti-money laundering (AML) and supervisory programs designed to prevent fraudulent activity. The violations specifically affected low-priced securities transactions involving DVP (delivery versus payment) accounts. According to the outcome of FINRA’s investigation, the supervisory system Aegis used “was not reasonably designed to satisfy its…

FINRA recently announced monetary sanctions against Wedbush Securities in the amount of. $1.5 million for SEC rule violations and associated compliance failures. According to FINRA, Wedbush violated the SEC Customer Protection Rule, which requires broker-dealers to maintain a certain degree of physical possession and control over customer securities. The object of the rule is to…

FINRA recently sanctioned Citigroup Global Markets Inc. $11.5 million over inaccurate research rating displays. The sanction includes a $5.5 million in fines and $6 million in compensation for wronged retail customers. According to the SRO’s findings, over at least five years, Citigroup displayed inaccurate research ratings for a large number of equity securities, also incurring…

Last month, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., JP Morgan Securities LLC and Interactive Brokers LLC agreed to pay a collective $4.8 million to end FINRA´s probe over inadequate risk controls. According to FINRA´s allegations, the financial institutions violated the Market Access Rule, which establishes requirements for maintaining risk management controls that supervise…

FINRA’s Department of Enforcement recently made public a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) by which former LPL broker Mark Tyler Bonds agreed to a one month suspension and a $5,000 fine to resolve allegations that he borrowed money from a customer of his firm, in violation of FINRA rule 3240. In the AWC,…

A unit of TD Bank, a US subsidiary of Canada’s Toronto-Dominion Bank, has agreed to pay a $125,000 fine to resolve allegations that it failed to record the required review of 3.1 million emails. FINRA requires that all securities-related correspondence between registered representatives and the public receive supervisory review, pursuant to Rule 3010: “Each member…

Credit Suisse Securities U.S.A. LLC has agreed to pay $16.5 million to resolve Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) allegations that the firm violated anti-money laundering (AML) program regulations, supervision requirements and other policies, FINRA reported Monday. Specifically, FINRA found that Credit Suisse’s U.S. division relied solely on registered representatives to report suspicious trading, who then…

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. $6.25 million for inadequately supervising its customers’ use of leverage in their Merrill brokerage accounts. The firm has also agreed to pay approximately $780,000 in restitution to 22 customers whose portfolios were over concentrated and highly leveraged in high-risk Puerto…

VALIC Financial Advisors Inc. has agreed to pay $1.75 million to resolve Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) allegations that the firm failed to implement reasonable systems to address and review conflicts of interest created by its compensation policy, FINRA reported Monday. The Houston-based subsidiary of American International Group Inc. allegedly paid its representatives financial incentives…

In 2015 alone, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) brought more than 1,510 disciplinary actions, charged $95.1 million in fines and ordered $96.6 million in restitution payments. Those violations resulting in the largest fines and monetary sanctions imposed in 2015 provide a good indication of the deficiencies FINRA takes most seriously and plans to target…