Sometimes increased convenience comes with a cost. Case in point: digital signatures, which provide “significantly” easier and more efficient customer interactions. However, that increased ease apparently applies to forgers, too. Says FINRA: “The increasing use of digital documentation can significantly improve the ease and efficiency of customer interactions, but digital documentation also creates risks for… Read More >>
FINRA Fines Morgan Stanley for Faulty Research Reports
FINRA, the broker-dealer industry’s self-regulator, alleges that — in the space of less than one year — Morgan Stanley “published approximately 11,000 equity research reports that included price charts with inaccurate historical stock ratings.” Eleven thousand! Oops. FINRA hit the venerable firm, which traces its history back to 1935 and the advent of the Glass-Steagall… Read More >>
CAT Overseers Shift Key Deadline for Broker-Dealers
A new deadline has been set for a key aspect of the ambitious, big data, securities transaction monitoring project known as the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT). The new deadline is intended to help broker-dealers grappling with the inclusion of information about customer accounts, and the deadline extension will give CAT participants more time to deal… Read More >>
National Securities Corp. Pays $9M to Settle FINRA Case
Clearly, FINRA, the brokerage industry’s self-regulatory authority, is not happy with the National Securities Corp. FINRA has ordered NSC to pay approximately $9 million, “including disgorgement of $4.77 million in net profits the firm received for underwriting 10 public offerings in which NSC attempted to artificially influence the market for the offered securities.” The firm neither confirms nor… Read More >>
FINRA May Hire More Crypto Crime-Fighters
FINRA appears to be in the market for crypto crime-fighters just as pioneering cryptocurrency players have laid off significant percentages of their workforce as the crypto crash/winter takes hold. The crypto slump has been underway for weeks and has driven down the value of Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies amid volatile markets rocked by inflation, war, interest… Read More >>
Merrill Lynch to Give Back $15.2M to Customers
FINRA, the self-regulatory organization for broker-dealers, has ordered Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith (MLPF&S) to pay $15.2 million-plus to “thousands of customers who purchased Class C mutual fund shares when Class A shares were available at substantially lower costs.” Looking at it from street level, you might be reminded of the shell game separating… Read More >>
SIFMA Praises CAT Compliance Deadline Extension
There’s a twist in the ongoing saga of the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) via a new delay that actually has the approval of a key player in the securities industry. To remind you, the CAT system is the result of SEC Rule 613, which requires U.S. securities exchanges and FINRA, the self-regulatory organization (SRO) for… Read More >>
Wells Fargo Broker-Dealer Settles AML Charges
Wells Fargo Advisors, the St. Louis, Missouri-based broker-dealer unit of the well-known stagecoach banking brand, will pay seven million dollars to settle SEC charges that it failed to “file at least 34 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) in a timely manner between April 2017 and October 2021.” Those suspicious activity reports that were not filed included… Read More >>
SEC Officials Must Finalize CAT Data Security: SIFMA
Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., president and CEO of SIFMA, is calling upon the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pick up the pace when it comes to a data security proposal for the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) system, which is slated to go live in July. The CAT system is the result of SEC Rule… Read More >>
FINRA Clarifies When It Will Charge a CCO
Is a chief compliance officer (CCO) at a broker-dealer automatically on the hook for any regulatory mishaps at a firm? Not necessarily, says FINRA, the self-regulatory organization (SRO) for U.S. broker-dealers. FINRA officials issued a regulatory notice last month that sets out to clarify a CCO’s role. The notice focuses on the scope of Supervision… Read More >>
