Raymond James Reps Allegedly Schemed to Overcharge Customers 

According to public records, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) censured and fined Raymond James Financial Services (RJFS) for supervisory failures and other rules violations. The firm reportedly agreed to the sanctions and will pay an $800,000 fine plus restitution. 

From at least January 2012 through April 2018, RJFS allegedly failed to reasonably supervise two registered representatives who engaged in a scheme to overcharge commissions to seven institutional customers, which they serviced as part of a team.  

FINRA found that the two representatives purportedly overcharged these institutional customers by calling the trading desk after placing the orders and instructing the trading desk to increase the commission being charged prior to execution and/or while the orders were being worked by the desk. 

The representatives reportedly created their own trade confirmations, to purportedly hide their misconduct from their customers, which they then emailed to customers. These confirmations reportedly contained misleading information, including understating commissions. In total, the representatives allegedly overcharged these customers approximately $2.4 million. The purported scheme ended in or about April 2018 when Raymond James flagged and reviewed an unusually large order for one of the customers. 

Although the alleged scheme reportedly raised multiple red flags, Raymond James purportedly failed to reasonably investigate them.  

Separately, from January 2012 to February 2020, Raymond James and Associates and R.JFS failed to have a qualified and registered principal authorize changes to the account name or designation on more than 7,500 equity orders. Raymond James and Assoicates was censured and fined $300,000/ 

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This information is all publicly available and provided to you by the White Law Group. For a free consultation with a securities attorney, please call the White Law Group at (888) 637-5510.  To learn more about the firm’s recent claims involving high risk alternative investments, please see: The White Law Group files another Lawsuit against Centaurus Financial  

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 Seattle, Washington. For more information, please visit our website, www.whitesecuritieslaw.com.