GWFS Equities Fined $1.5M For Failure To Report Suspicious Activity On Accounts
Harion Camargo, 08 June 2021
Thanks to its ‘significant’ cooperation with investigating authorities, and subsequent implementation of remedial measures, GWFS Equities Inc. (GWFS) appears to have been spared some embarrassment and possibly stiffer penalties as the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) accepted its offer of a settlement.
Colorado-based GWFS is a subsidiary of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company and services retirement plans sponsored by employers. It has been under investigation for violation of federal securities laws related to filing reports of suspicious activities.
GWFS replaced key staff, added a dedicated team and systems for anti-money laundering activities, pinpointed responsibility for filing the required suspicious activity reports while implementing new procedures and policies and rolling out a training plan for it. Further, without denying or admitting the findings of the SEC, GWFS agreed to a penalty of $1.5 million and censure. It also agreed to an order to cease and desist from similar violations in the future.
The violations pertain to a period that starts in September 2015 and ends in October 2018. SEC has contended that during this period, GWFS was aware of increasing attempts being made by criminals to gain access to retirement accounts of participants of the individual plans. These attempts were made through improper obtention of the participants’ identifying information, frequently including digital access credentials such as usernames and passwords, apart from email IDs.
