The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, better known as FINRA, reports that it has fined Citigroup Global Markets Inc. $1.25 million for “failing to conduct timely or adequate background checks on approximately 10,400 non-registered associated persons spanning a seven-year period.” Citigroup Global Markets (CGMI) characterizes itself as a provider of “products and financing solutions for corporations,… Read More >>
FINRA Fines Cetera Firm for Alleged Supervisory Failures
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reports that it has fined Summit Brokerage Services, Inc., an affiliate of the Cetera Financial Group, $880,000 “for supervisory failures, including approximately $558,000 in restitution to customers whose accounts were excessively traded by a former registered representative of the firm who was previously barred by FINRA.” According to FINRA,… 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 >>
Morgan Stanley Pays $150M to Settle MBS Cases
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) are alleging that Morgan Stanley misled them about the mortgage-backed securities (MBSs) in which they invested in the 2003 to 2007 period. Morgan Stanley officials have denied the allegations “and all claims of wrongdoing, damages and liability whatsoever.” The legal… Read More >>
SEC Raises Key SRO Fee by 59 Percent
Without much fanfare, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced earlier this month via an Information Notice that it had to raise certain fees controlled by the SEC by 59 percent. “The fees that FINRA controls are staying flat,” a FINRA spokesperson tells FTF News. “Effective April 16, 2019, the Section 31 fee rate applicable… Read More >>
CME Group Launches Data Insights for Hedge Funds
Benchmarking Tool Debuts for Hedge Funds & Others CME Group, a provider of derivatives marketplaces, reports the launch of ENSO Data Insights, which it characterizes as “a benchmarking tool which leverages ENSO’s alternative data set to help customers make more informed investment decisions.” ENSO Data Insights “provides hedge funds, asset managers and banks … access to… Read More >>
Block Bond Trades Could Get Data Sharing Overhaul
Self-regulatory organization FINRA is considering changes to the way data (trade price and size) about block-sized trades of corporate bonds will be disseminated to the marketplace, and wants industry input for a proposed pilot program. The proposal is in response to market participants and the SEC, which have raised concerns over the current system of… Read More >>
Time to Centralize Reference Data for Corporate Bonds?
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a self-regulatory organization (SRO), wants to “expand the collection and dissemination of new-issue reference data for corporate bonds,” and is seeking the approval of the SEC to do so, according to FINRA. As part of the proposal, FINRA wants its Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE) “to serve as… Read More >>
Cantor Fitzgerald Fined $2M for Alleged SHO Violations
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reports that it has fined Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. $2 million for regulation SHO violations and supervisory failures spanning a period of at least five years. The SEC adopted regulation SHO to “address concerns regarding persistent failures to deliver and potentially abusive ‘naked’ short selling, e.g., the sale of… Read More >>
FINRA Named as the New CAT Operator
The backers of the big data consolidated audit trail (CAT) have selected the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the self-regulatory organization (SRO), to be the next plan processor for the CAT system, replacing Thesys Technologies, which was acting as Thesys CAT. Late last month, news broke that Thesys CAT was being phased out of the plan… Read More >>
