The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reports that Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, has been fined $6 million for “failing to provide complete and accurate trade data in an automated format in a timely manner when requested by FINRA and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).” “Blue sheets” is the informal… Read More >>
FINRA Appoints a New President-CEO
New FINRA Exec from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reports that its board has named Robert W. Cook as its president and chief executive officer, “effective the second half of 2016.” He succeeds Richard G. Ketchum, chairman and CEO since 2009. Cook joins from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton… Read More >>
Oppenheimer & Co. Fined $2M for Noncompliant ETF Sales
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined investment bank Oppenheimer & Co. $2.25 million and has ordered the firm to pay restitution of more than $716,000 to affected customers for recommending non-traditional exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that the regulator says “were not suitable” for certain retail investors and were sold “without reasonable supervision.” FINRA’s actions… Read More >>
FINRA Charges Lawson Financial with Securities Fraud
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has filed a disciplinary complaint against Phoenix-based Lawson Financial Corp. Inc. (LFC) and Robert Lawson, LFC’s president and CEO, charging them with securities fraud in connection with the sale of “millions of dollars of municipal revenue bonds” to customers. FINRA further alleges in a statement that Robert Lawson and… Read More >>
Raymond James Fined $17M for AML Deficiencies
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined the financial advisory firm Raymond James a total of $17 million, citing deficiencies in its ant-money laundering (AML) staffing and systems, which the firm says has been rectified via “significant resource, process and technology enhancements.” FINRA officials fined Raymond James & Associates, Inc. (RJA) $8 million, and… Read More >>
SEC Pushing for Consolidated Audit Trail
The SEC voted late last month to move ahead with the final phase of the consolidated audit trail (CAT) project, part of a proposed national market system (NMS) plan to “create a single, comprehensive database that would enable regulators to efficiently track all trading activity in the U.S. equity and options market,” officials say. The… Read More >>
FINRA to Shine More Light on Dark Pools
The industry is getting more transparency into dark pools and other alternative trading systems (ATSes) via the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which is expanding the data that it provides for over-the-counter (OTC) trading in equity securities. The additional transparency will cover approximately 20 percent of “all trading in National Market System equities,” according to… Read More >>
SEC Extends Pilot to Limit Market Volatility
The SEC has issued an order extending the pilot period of a key initiative under the Regulation National Market System (Reg NMS) plan for one year. Known as the limit up-limit down (LULD) mechanism, it was first formulated in 2012 to address today’s extraordinary, often technology-mediated market volatility. The LULD pilot is meant to control… Read More >>
FINRA Faces a Challenge to Its Authority
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is facing a legal challenge on the range of its authority as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) by a securities firm that it is trying to stop enforcement proceedings against it. Scottsdale Capital Advisors, the broker-dealer in question, describes itself as “a husband and wife team” led by John and… Read More >>
FINRA Fines Wedbush $675K on Supervisory Violation Charges
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reports that it has censured and levied a $675,000 fine against Wedbush Securities Inc. for “supervisory violations” that concerned a client’s “chronic fails to deliver” after so-called naked trades of leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs), during the January 2010 to March 2012 period. The Wedbush client was broker-dealer Scout Trading,… Read More >>
