Boston-based LPL Financial has been fined $2.75 million by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on charges that, among other problems, its anti-money laundering (AML) efforts failed to assess approximately 400 incidents that should have been investigated as Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs). In addition, FINRA alleges that LPL “failed to file or amend registered representatives’… Read More >>
Mizuho Capital Markets Fined for Alleged NFA Violations
Swap dealer Mizuho Capital Markets has paid a $900,000 fine for allegedly violating National Futures Association (NFA) requirements for margin collection, model monitoring and reporting related to uncleared swaps. In fact, NFA officials alleged that the New York-based firm did not satisfy requirements for initial and variation margin collection and did not properly supervise the… Read More >>
Barclays CEO Fined for Whistleblower Search
Apparently, when it comes to whistleblowers among their ranks, bank executives will have to grin and bear it or face the consequences. Such is the case for James E. “Jes” Staley, group CEO of Barclays. For the past year, U.K. regulatory authorities have been looking into why Staley was attempting to learn the identity of… Read More >>
Goldman Sachs Fined $109M for Multiple FX Violations
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will be paying $109.5 million in fines split between two regulators on charges that its traders improperly shared customer information with traders at other firms, and charges that these actions improperly influenced foreign exchange (FX) prices. The parent company of Goldman Sachs Bank USA will be paying a $54,750,000 fine as… Read More >>
Instinet Fined for Allegedly Defying Market Access Rule
Institutional agency-only broker Instinet, LLC has been censured and fined a total of $1.575 million for alleged violations of various provisions of the market access rule (15c3-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934), and related exchange supervisory rules. Instinet, founded in 1969, is a Nomura company. Nomura describes itself as an “Asia-headquartered financial services… Read More >>
NFA Bars Fortune Trading Group & Fines Ironbeam $100K
The National Futures Association has permanently barred Chicago, Ill. guaranteed introducing broker (GIB) Fortune Trading Group, Inc. (FTG) from membership and from acting as a principal of an NFA Member. The NFA also ordered Chicago, Ill. futures commission merchant (FCM) Ironbeam, Inc., FTG’s guarantor, to pay a $100,000 fine. In addition, the NFA barred Jonathan… Read More >>
Wedbush Securities Charged with Customer Protection Violations
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reports that it has fined Wedbush Securities Inc. $1.5 million for violating the SEC’s customer protection and net capital rules, and for related supervisory and books and records failures. Separately, the SEC observes that Wedbush Securities, the largest unit in Wedbush Inc., a firm that has existed since the… Read More >>
