Category: Enforcement

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Fined: Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Fined by FINRA (July 2019)

Fined

Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Fined by FINRA

8 July 2019

An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $55,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to report reportable options positions to the large options position reporting (LOPR) system due to a programming error in connection with accounts acting in-concert, and failed to report proprietary positions as acting-in-concert, because of a design flaw in its reporting logic. The findings stated that the firm reported positions to the LOPR in the wrong format and with an incorrect effective date.

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Fined: Planmember Securities Corporation Fined by FINRA

Fined

Planmember Securities Corporation Fined by FINRA

3 July 2019

An 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 had no WSPs or reasonable supervisory system for the surveillance of rates of variable annuity exchanges. The findings stated that the firm purported to use a spreadsheet prepared each month that summarized all variable annuity transactions to surveil rates of variable annuity exchanges.

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Fined: CV Brokerage, Inc Fined by FINRA

Fined

CV Brokerage, Inc Fined by FINRA

2 July 2019

A Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $100,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to establish and maintain a supervisory system and failed to establish, maintain and enforce WSPs, reasonably designed to achieve compliance with applicable FINRA rules regarding the participation of firm registered representatives in private securities transactions. The findings stated that a representative of the firm participated in multiple private securities transactions, at least two of which are known to have involved firm customers. Among others, the representative formed an investment fund that was managed by her registered investment advisory firm.

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Fined: Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC Fined by FINRA

Fined

Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC Fined by FINRA

26 June 2019

An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured, fined $55,000, of which $6,000 is payable to FINRA, 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, while acting as a trading center, it failed to establish, maintain and enforce written policies and procedures that were reasonably designed to prevent trade-throughs of protected quotations in national market system (NMS) stocks when it executed these orders internally but failed to simultaneously send intermarket sweep orders (ISOs) to one or more markets displaying protected quotations in that stock.

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Fined: Windsor Street Capital, LP fka Meyers Associates, L.P Fined by FINRA

Fined

Windsor Street Capital, LP fka Meyers Associates, L.P Fined by FINRA

25 June 2019

An Office of Hearing Officers (OHO) decision became final in which the firm was expelled from FINRA® membership, fined $1,000,000, ordered to pay $61,559.02, plus interest, in restitution to customers and ordered to pay disgorgement in the amount of $256,550. Rodriguez was barred from association with any FINRA member in all capacities.

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Fined: Crown Capital Securities, L.P. Fined by FINRA

Fined

Crown Capital Securities, L.P. Fined by FINRA

20 June 2019

An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $75,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to establish and maintain a supervisory system, including WSPs, for reviewing and monitoring mutual fund switches reasonably designed to achieve compliance with FINRA suitability requirements and failed to reasonably supervise short-term switches of Class A mutual fund shares conducted by two firm registered representatives.

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Fined: Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Fined by FINRA (June 2019)

Fined

Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Fined by FINRA (June 2019)

20 June 2019

An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured, fined $225,000 and ordered to pay $152,488.59, plus interest, in restitution to customers, which the firm has already paid. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to identify and apply sales charge discounts to certain eligible purchases of unit investment trusts (UITs). The findings stated that this resulted in customers paying excessive sales charges of $152,488.59.

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Fined: Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. Fined by FINRA

Fined

Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. Fined by FINRA

19 June 2019

An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured, fined $40,000, and ordered to certify in writing that it has reviewed its systems, policies and procedures, written or otherwise, governing its review, analysis and disclosure of alleged damages in customer complaints and that it has established and implemented systems, policies and procedures, written and otherwise, governing the review, analysis and disclosure of alleged damages in customer complaints that are reasonably designed to achieve compliance with applicable FINRA rules and by-laws.

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Fined: Spencer Edwards, Inc. Fined by FINRA (June 2019)

Fined

Spencer Edwards, Inc. Fined by FINRA (June 2019)

11 June 2019

An AWC was issued in which the firm was suspended from accepting deposits of stock certificates and liquidating previously deposited certificated securities until it implements measures to remedy the AML violations addressed in the AWC, fined $250,000 and ordered to pay $512,261, plus interest, in restitution to customers.

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Fined: U. S. Boston Capital Corporation Fined by FINRA

Fined

U. S. Boston Capital Corporation Fined by FINRA

10 June 2019

An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured, fined $125,000 and required to review and revise, as necessary, its systems, policies and procedures regarding consolidated reports, and certify that those systems, policies and procedures are reasonably designed to achieve compliance with the applicable FINRA rules. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to establish and maintain a supervisory system and failed to establish, maintain and enforce WSPs, reasonably designed to achieve compliance with applicable securities laws, regulations and FINRA rules regarding registered representatives’ creation and use of consolidated reports.

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Fined: Ross, Sinclaire & Associates, LLC Fined by FINRA

Fined

Ross, Sinclaire & Associates, LLC Fined by FINRA

10 June 2019

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 disclose material facts while assisting with the preparation and circulation of a confidential information memorandum (CIM) to accredited investors for a private placement of notes.

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Fined: Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated Fined by FINRA

Fined

Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated Fined by FINRA

7 June 2019

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 published seven research reports about an issuer without disclosing that the research analyst who authored the reports was engaged in employment discussions with the issuer that constituted an actual, material conflict of interest.

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Fined: Nomura Securities International, Inc. Fined by FINRA

Fined

Nomura Securities International, Inc. Fined by FINRA

3 June 2019

An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $225,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to report and inaccurately reported reportable over-thecounter (OTC) options positions to the Large Options Position Reporting system (LOPR) and untimely reported options positions to the FINRA Trade Reporting Facility®.

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Fined: Lime Brokerage LLC Fined by FINRA (June 2019)

Fined

Lime Brokerage LLC Fined by FINRA

3 June 2019

A Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $75,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to accurately calculate its net capital resulting in net capital deficiencies in amounts ranging from $3,348 to $449,666. The findings stated that the firm improperly calculated its customer reserve formula on one occasion and, as a result, failed to make a sufficient deposit in its reserve account, resulting in a hindsight deficiency of $59,590 for one month.

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