Officials at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) released a “Progress Report on FINRA360” last month and the regulator is making the case that it has started to reinvigorate itself, particularly in the areas of enforcement and qualification exams. As you may recall, FINRA360 is an effort to see if “FINRA is operating as the… 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 >>
Have You Called Your Regulator Lately?
A recurring message emerged from several of the sessions at our DerivOps conference in Chicago earlier this week. It’s simply this: financial services firms should take advantage of a new, more proactive dynamic between them and regulators. Basically, firms should feel free to tell regulators what they’re doing, especially with so many disruptive phenomena and… Read More >>
Regulators Allege Aegis Fell Short on Financial Crime-Fighting
Aegis Capital Corp., a retail and institutional broker-dealer based in New York City, has paid a penalty to the SEC and a fine to self-regulatory organization the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in response to charges that it failed to comply with financial crime recordkeeping and reporting rules and had inadequate supervisory and anti-money laundering… Read More >>
SEC Alleges Brokerage Put Client Concerns Second
The SEC reports that a Los Angeles-based broker-dealer, privately held Electronic Transaction Clearing (ETC), is settling charges that it “illegally placed more than $25 million of customers’ securities at risk in order to fund its own operations.” As part of the settlement, ETC, which is regarded as a carrying broker-dealer because it “maintains custody of… Read More >>
FINRA Helps Military Spouses via Special AFC Program
A foundation of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has begun accepting applications for the 2018 class of “financial fellows” who will take part in “a unique program designed to increase the financial capability of U.S. service members and their families.” The FINRA Investor Education Foundation Military Spouse Fellowship is a national program that gives… Read More >>
Buy Side Spared Direct CAT Reporting Requirements
(U.S. securities exchanges and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) pushed for the creation of an uber market surveillance/database system, the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT), to support SEC Rule 613. Plans for implementation have been underway since July 2012 and got a boost when SEC officials finally approved the CAT NMS Plan on Nov. 15,… 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 >>
Duco Completes $28 Million Investment Round
Duco to Expand Global Footprint Duco, the cloud-based reconciliation and data-engineering technology company, reports the completion of a $28 million investment round by Insight Venture Partners, NEX Opportunities and Eight Roads Ventures, as well as an investment by Cristóbal Conde, the former CEO of SunGard. Duco says its financial services technology allows banks, brokers, asset… Read More >>
2018 Predictions: Hackers Will Hit Harder Than Last Year
(Editor’s Note: Cybersecurity concerns are high on almost every prognosticator’s list and several of them are predicting that things are only going to get worse for the securities industry.) “Unfortunately, we won’t be surprised to see another Equifax-like situation happen in 2018,” says Robert Roley, senior vice president, managing director and general manager for SS&C… Read More >>
