Penalties assessed against financial institutions for non-compliance with anti-money laundering (AML), know your customer (KYC), and sanctions regulations totaled $5.6 billion by the end of July 2020, according to a mid-year report from a well-known fintech provider. That provider, Fenergo, founded in 2008, characterizes itself as a “digital enabler of client and regulatory technology for… Read More >>
Goldman Sachs Reaches $3.9B Settlement with Malaysia
Goldman Sachs is settling with Malaysia, whose sovereign-wealth fund was looted in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund better known as 1MDB, to the tune of more than $2.5 billion. It’s the latest episode in the long-running saga of 1MDB, the fugitive financier Jho Low, and the New York City-based multinational… Read More >>
Merrill Lynch & FINRA Resolve Mutual Fund Fees Case
FINRA has ordered broker-dealer Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. to “pay more than $7.2 million in restitution and interest to customers who incurred unnecessary sales charges and paid excess fees in connection with mutual fund transactions.” In a formulation that will be familiar to FTF News readers, the firm says: “In settling this… Read More >>
SEC Probe Spurs Firm to Revamp MNPI Policies
Private equity firm Ares Management is settling with the SEC over charges that it lacked proper policies and procedures to oversee the handling of “material nonpublic information [MNPI],” a.k.a. insider information, according to the regulator’s order. The case revolves around the firm’s representation on a board of directors “of a listed issuer” in the Ares investment… Read More >>
Morningstar Credit Ratings Settles Conflict-of-Interest Case
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reports that it has settled with New York-based credit-rating agency Morningstar Credit Ratings, which it charged with violating a long-standing conflict-of-interest rule designed to separate a firm’s credit ratings and analysis from its sales and marketing. Morningstar Credit Ratings, a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc., neither admits nor denies the… Read More >>
Morgan Stanley Settles Wrap-Fee Case with SEC
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MSSB) is settling charges that it provided misleading information to retail clients in its retail wrap fee programs regarding trade execution services and transaction costs, and the firm will pay a $5 million penalty that will be distributed to harmed investors, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reports. The commission’s… Read More >>
FINRA Fines AXA Advisors via Bond Funds Case
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reports that it has fined AXA Advisors, LLC $600,000 and ordered the firm to pay approximately $172,000 in restitution to approximately 6,200 affected retirement plan participants for allegedly “distributing materials that negligently misrepresented that certain bond funds offered for 401(k) plans were ‘investment-grade’ when, in fact, a substantial portion… Read More >>
Firms Fined $26B Over the Past Decade: Fenergo
Have you ever wondered how much financial services firms have paid over the past decade in fines when they have been in violation of anti-money laundering (AML), know your customer (KYC) and sanctions regulations? Fenergo, mostly known for its client management solutions, decided to find answers to that question using “various sources, including regulatory and… Read More >>
Firms Are Risking MiFID II Fines: Survey
Evidence is surfacing that some financial services firms have been risking big fines by failing to comply with the MiFID II reforms while a key U.K. authority is reporting that it has seen a 55 percent increase in MiFID II transaction reports. An integrated communications vendor, TeleWare recently released the results of a survey showing… Read More >>
Merrill Lynch Fined $26M on AML Deficiency Charges
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. has been fined a total of $26 million — $13 million by the SEC and another $13 million by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) — for mismanaging its anti-money laundering (AML) responsibilities, especially after becoming part of Bank of America in 2009. In response to the fines… Read More >>
