According to FINRA, MML Investors Services, LLC (MMLIS) allegedly overcharged 792 customers on sales of mutual funds and have been ordered to pay close to $1.8 million in restitution.

In September 2015, MMLIS began a review to determine whether the firm provided available sales charge waivers to eligible customers. Based on this review, on March 8, 2016, MMLIS self-reported to FINRA that the eligible customers had not received available sales charge waivers.

MMLIS estimates that, since July 1, 2009, approximately 792 MMLIS customers reportedly purchased mutual fund shares for which an available sales charge waiver was not applied. As a result of the failure, the firm estimates that eligible customers were overcharged by approximately $1,577,112.12 for mutual fund purchases made since July 1, 2009.

As part of this settlement, MMLIS agrees to pay restitution to eligible customers, which is estimated to total $1,864,167.77.

In May of this year, FINRA posted a notice on its website declaring a “mutual fund waiver sweep,” for which the regulator requests documents and information from broker-dealers related to waivers, or reimbursements, available to some investors for mutual fund sales charges.

For more information on similar investigations, see Five Firms Ordered to Pay $18M for Mutual Fund Overcharges.

The foregoing information, which is all publicly available on FINRA’s website, is being provided by The White Law Group.  The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Franklin, Tennessee.  For more information on the firm, please visit http://whitesecuritieslaw.com.