Merrill Lynch censured for alleged Reg BI violations
A 12-month advisory-fee waiver applied to certain products purchased initially in an advisory account.
Firm-registered representatives in some instances recommended the purchase of such products in a brokerage account and then recommended their transfer to an advisory account.
This resulted in customers incurring avoidable fees. The firm’s supervisory systems and policies failed to detect and forestall these specific unsuitable recommendations.
The firm was given credit for extraordinary co-operation, which included the implementation of remedial measures. A restitutionary payment of $1,486,380 plus interest has been ordered.
FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 3110 SEA 1934 Rule 15l-1 SEC Reg BI
Products representative suspended and fined for allegedly falsely certifying that he had personally completed the continuing education required to renew an insurance license
Another person had completed 15 hours of insurance continuing education on his behalf.
FINRA Rule 2010
Former securities representative barred for allegedly refusing to produce information and documents or appear for on-the-record testimony
FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 8210
SI Securities censured and fined for alleged compliance failures connected to private placement offerings
The firm failed to return investor funds following a material change to the minimum contingency in one offering.
It also failed to return funds directly to investors for terminated offerings – an escrow agent was instructed to send refunds to a separate firm account and the firm promptly reimbursed investors from this special account.
The required documents, and information connected with more than 50 private placements was not filed with FINRA as required.
A separate file of all written customer complaints was not kept by the firm and at least 55 complaints were not reported to FINRA.
The firm’s supervisory system, including its WSPs, was not reasonably designed to ensure compliance with Form CRS requirements.
FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 3110 FINRA Rule 4513 FINRA Rule 4530 FINRA Rule 5123 SEA 1934 Rule 10b-9 SEA 1934 Rule 15c2-4 SEA 1934 Rule 17a-14
RBC Capital Markets censured and fined for allegedly failing to reasonably supervise the application of rights of reinstatement
The parameters of an automated alert set to identify transactions eligible for reinstatement rights were miscalibrated (principal set to $1,000 and reinstatement window 100 days or less), which meant that a large proportion of transactions eligible for reinstatement were not flagged.
In some instances the firm did not review those alerts that were triggered to ensure that eligible customers were credited with reinstatement privileges.
This meant 1,450 accounts were not provided with reinstatement benefits, which resulted in $264,939.44 in excess sales charges and fees.
The firm has agreed to an undertaking requiring it to certify in writing the remediation of the issues identified.
FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 3110
Former securities representative suspended and fined for allegedly sharing exam content with others
The representative disclosed the CFP exam content planning to take the exam through a group messaging platform after successfully passing the exam.
FINRA Rule 2010
Contracts representative suspended and fined for allegedly removing and retaining non-public personal customer information
The representative downloaded information on 32 customers contained within the firm’s system to a USB drive.
FINRA Rule 2010
Oshima & Associates censured and fined for allegedly mismarking trades
Approximately 140 trades in which discretionary authority had been exercised were marked as unsolicited rather than as discretionary.
The firm has agreed to an undertaking requiring it to certify in writing the remediation of the issues identified.
FINRA Rule 2010 FINRA Rule 4511 SEA 1934 Rule 17a-3
| Unless otherwise noted all respondents accepted and consented to FINRA’s findings without admitting or denying them. |