FINRA sanctions Citi, JPMorgan, LPL Financial, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, and Merrill Lynch
Mario Nikolova
Finance Feeds, 26 December 2019
The United States Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) today announces that it has sanctioned Citigroup Global Markets Inc.; J.P. Morgan Securities LLC; LPL Financial LLC; Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC; and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, over the firms’ failure to reasonably supervise compliance with FINRA’s “Know Your Customer” rule.
In settling this matter, the five firms paid combined fines totaling $1.4 million, and agreed to review their policies, systems, and procedures to ensure that they are reasonably designed to supervise custodial accounts and to achieve compliance with FINRA Rule 2090. The firms neither admitted nor denied the charges, but consented to the entry of FINRA’s findings.