Multi-Million Dollar FINRA Fines in 2018

8 Firms hit with FINRA Fines in 2018

According to Investment News, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) hit the following 8 firms with multi-million dollar fines in 2018.

Wedbush Securities – In February, FINRA fined Wedbush Securities $1.5 million for net capital deficiencies and for failing to accurately calculate its customer reserve requirement.

Fifth Third Securities Inc. –In May, FINRA hit Fifth Third Securities with a $4 million fine and $2 million in restitution for unsuitable sales of variable annuities.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Financial Services – In May, FINRA levied a  $5.3 million fine for failing to implement an anti-money laundering program to detect suspicious transactions.

Interaction Brokers – In August, FINRA penalized Interactions Brokers with a $5.5 million fine for supervisory failures in managing the firm’s short-sale transactions involving so-called naked short positions.

LPL Financial – In October, FINRA fined LPL $2.75 million for failing to report dozens of customer complaints on its brokers Form U4 and U5 disclosures and for an inadequate anti-money laundering program.

Merrill Lynch – In December, Merrill Lynch had to pay almost $6 million for improper sales of initial public offerings, over an eight year period (2010 and 2018). Merrill Lynch brokers were reportedly selling shares such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to family members and brokers and employees of other brokerage firms.

UBS Financial Services – In December, the firm was fined $4.5 Million for anti-money laundering deficiencies in regards to foreign currency wires.

UBS Securities – The firm was fined in December for failure to implement an AML system designed to flag high-risk transactions; in this case it was failure to properly monitor penny stock transactions.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney – In December, FINRA hit the firm with the largest penalty of the year, a $10 million penalty for AML failures during a five year period.

This information is all publicly available and provided to you by The White Law Group.

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