Foreign Collusion, Naked Shorting (Counterfeiting) & Money Laundering — All Illicit Wealth
Virtu Americas LLC fka KCG Americas LLC Fined by FINRA
An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured, fined $125,000, and required to revise its written methodology with respect to the areas described in the AWC. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it did not maintain a reasonable written methodology governing the execution and priority of all pending orders that it received for handling and execution.
Wintrust Investments LLC fka Wayne Hummer Investments L.L.C. Fined by FINRA
An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured, fined $35,000 and required to revise its WSPs. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that in transactions involving municipal securities, it failed to exercise reasonable diligence in ascertaining the best market, and sell in such a market, so that the resultant price to the customer was as favorable as possible under prevailing market conditions.
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated Fined by FINRA
An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $150,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it executed municipal securities transactions with customers in an amount below an issue’s minimum denomination without an exception.
Dash Financial Technologies LLC Fined by FINRA
A Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $90,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it transmitted inaccurate Reportable Order Events (ROEs) to the Order Audit Trail System (OATS™), primarily due to the failure to append the correct special handling code to directed orders.
Apex Clearing Corporation Fined by FINRA
An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured, fined $250,000 and required to provide a written certification within 90 days that it has completed a review of its systems and procedures regarding SEC Rule 10b-16(a)(1), and as of the date of the certification, the firm’s policies, systems and procedures are reasonably designed to achieve compliance with the rule.
Wilson-Davis & Co., Inc. Fined by FINRA
The firm, Barkley and Snow appealed a National Adjudicatory Counsel (NAC) decision to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The NAC had affirmed the findings and modified the sanctions imposed by the Office of Hearing Officers (OHO). The firm was fined $1,100,000, ordered to pay disgorgement in the amount of $51,624, plus prejudgment interest and required to retain an independent consultant to recommend changes to its WSPs.
Cambridge Investment Research, Inc. Fined by FINRA
An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $150,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to reasonably supervise short-term trading of UITs and mutual fund Class A shares.
TD Ameritrade, Inc. Fined by FINRA
An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $250,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it created inaccurate order memoranda on options orders for customers whose orders should have been coded as Professional Customers. The findings stated that these orders were entered through the firm’s internal trading platform and routed to option exchanges through third party broker-dealers.
Microventure Marketplace Inc. Fined by FINRA
An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $40,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to file the private placement memorandum with FINRA in connection with those offerings. The findings stated that the firm also made one late private placement filing.
Lek Securities Corporation Fined by FINRA
An Offer of Settlement was issued in which the firm was suspended from selling or accepting for deposit any low-priced security until it certifies to FINRA® that it has implemented the recommendations of an independent consultant, fined $200,000 and required to retain one or more qualified independent consultants to conduct a comprehensive review of its supervisory system and its compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933 obligations in connection with stock trading in low-priced securities.
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Fined by FINRA
An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured, fined $85,000 and required to revise its WSPs. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to record Not Held terms and conditions on its order memoranda for institutional customers of one of the firm’s trading desks and for those orders it transmitted reports to the Order Audit Trail System (OATS™) that failed to contain the Not Held special handling code.
SG Americas Securities, LLC Fined by FINRA
An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $30,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that employees on one of its trading desks entered invalid locate codes into the firm’s order management systems in connection with short sales involving exchange traded fund (ETF) shares.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC Fined by FINRA
An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $130,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it effected customer sale transactions of municipal bonds on a discretionary basis in amounts lower than the minimum denomination of the respective issues.
First Financial Equity Corporation Fined by FINRA
An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $200,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to file amended Uniform Application for Securities Industry Registration or Transfer forms (Form U4s) for 20 of its registered representatives to disclose 71 outstanding liens, outstanding judgments, bankruptcies and creditor compromises in a timely fashion or, in some cases, at all. The findings stated that the firm failed to establish and maintain a system and failed to establish, maintain and enforce written procedures that were reasonably designed to achieve compliance with FINRA’s requirement to timely file Form U4 amendments to reflect reportable financial events.
FINRA Fines Robinhood Financial, LLC $1.25 Million for Best Execution Violations
FINRA found that for more than a year, Robinhood—which offers its customers the ability to trade in equity securities without being charged commissions—routed its customers’ non-directed equity orders to four broker-dealers, all of which paid Robinhood for that order flow. This arrangement is known in the brokerage industry as payment for order flow.
Comment: Robinhood fined and just look what they do They let you trade for FREE how? Nothing is free in this world right, well they sell your order to another firm (the get paid for it) You get your trade for free everyone happy. BUT who wants your orders? You guess it NAKED SHORT SELLING firms. They trade against you order for example if your buying 5K of shares of SRNE on firday THE order is naked shorted by Them Never making it to the market at all. If you sell it and they are short. You can bet your kidney on it they will let that 5K go to the market and help drive it lower NEVER being the buyer. Thats the game. AND ROBINHOOD is helping the crooks for profit and screwing their own CLIENT.
THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?
