Puma Capital censured and fined for alleged compliance failures in connection with trade-throughs
The firm relied on its order management system to route ISOs but, despite having been previously warned by FINRA, “had no policy or process to determine whether the ISOs it routed were received and executed as intended” by the venues to which they were directed.
The firm was aware of the problem because a number of coding issues resulted in trade-throughs between 2018 and 2021. Despite this it did not amend its policies and procedures to address the issue.
Regulation NMS Rule 611 FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 3110
Former securities representative suspended and fined for allegedly maintaining an outside securities account without consent from his employer
FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 3210
Securities representative suspended and fined for allegedly mismarking order tickets
625 order tickets were marked unsolicited despite actually having been solicited by the securities representative.
Exchange Act Section 17(a) FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 4511
Former products representative suspended for allegedly failing to disclose a felony charge on Form U4
FINRA By-Laws Article V, Section 2(c) FINRA Rule 1122 FINRA Rule 2010
Haywood Securities (USA) censured and fined for alleged compliance failures connected to private placements
The firm failed to conduct reasonable due diligence on 53 Canadian private placement offerings recommended to US customers. The firm obtained minimal information on the offerings and did not independently verify the information provided by the issuer.
The firm also failed to file the required offering documents for 236 private placements with FINRA.
An undertaking requiring the firm to certify the remediation of the compliance and supervisory system issues has also been imposed on the firm as part of the AWC.
FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 2111 FINRA Rule 3010 FINRA Rule 3110 FINRA Rule 5123
Securities representative suspended and fined for alleged unauthorized transactions in customer accounts
The representative engaged in discretionary trading on non-discretionary accounts without having communicated with the customers or obtained their authorization for the trades.
FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 3260
Former securities representative barred for allegedly refusing to provide documents, information and on-the-record testimony
FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 8210
Products representative suspended and fined for allegedly circumventing firm procedures
The representative acted as power of attorney and executor of the customer’s estate. He also acted as successor trustee and beneficiary for the customer’s trust. The customer in this instance was not a family member and none of the roles were disclosed to the representative’s employer.
FINRA Rule 2010
H.C. Wainwright censured and fined for allegedly failing to maintain required minimum net capital levels
The firm failed to maintain accurate books and records reflecting net capital levels and filed inaccurate FOCUS reports.
The firm also failed to provide prior written notice of guarantor status to FINRA “in connection with credit agreements that it entered into as guarantor for its parent”.
Exchange Act Rule 15c3-1 Exchange Act Rule 17a-3 Exchange Act Rule 17a-5 FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 4150 FINRA Rule 4511
Securities representative suspended and fined for allegedly opening an outside trading account without consent from his employer
The representative traded on the account for nine years and did not notify the brokerage firm of his association with another FINRA member firm.
FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 3210
Securities representative barred for allegedly refusing to appear for on-the-record testimony
FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 8210
Wedbush Securities censured and fined for allegedly failing to effectively safeguard customer assets
A hacker gained access to a registered representative’s email account at a correspondent firm. The hacker then used this account to request four wire transfers totalling more than $6.6m dollars from a joint brokerage account at Wedbush Securities to two third parties located in foreign countries.
Wedbush received and approved the transfers, failing to reasonably investigate red flags that the transfers could be fraudulent, or taking steps to ensure that the transfer requests were genuine.
After being notified of the fraud Wedbush and the correspondent firm reimbursed the customers for their losses.
In addition to the censure and fine the firm has agreed to the imposition of an undertaking requiring it to certify the remediation of the supervisory system and procedure issues identified.
FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 3110 FINRA Regulatory Notice 09-64
Securities representative suspended and fined for allegedly adding information to signed customer forms
FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 4511
Morgan Stanley censured and fined for allegedly failing to deliver prospectuses to customers
A coding error affected 44,000 accounts of customers electing for paper delivery. This led to a third-party vendor not receiving a prompt indicating that a prospectus should be delivered.
The firm has been given credit for extraordinary cooperation including taking immediate remedial steps after uncovering the problem and providing substantial assistance to FINRA in its investigation.
FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 3110
Former products representative barred for allegedly refusing to appear for on-the-record testimony
FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 8210
Former securities representative suspended and fined for alleged unauthorized trading
Unauthorized purchases of mutual funds in customers’ firm brokerage accounts were made without the customers’ prior authorization or consent.
A disgorgement of $2,999 plus interest has also been ordered.
FINRA Rule 2010
| Unless otherwise noted all respondents accepted and consented to FINRA’s findings without admitting or denying them. |