Key online systems of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) were unavailable on Tuesday, Dec. 7, because of an outage at cloud computing provider Amazon Web Services (AWS) that lasted about seven hours, according to alerts from the self-regulatory organization and Amazon. AWS has become a major cloud provider for financial services firms, particularly those… Read More >>
FINRA Fines Citi for Alleged U4 Filing Woes
Citigroup Global Markets has been censured by FINRA, the financial-industry’s self-regulatory authority, and will pay a $375,000 fine for alleged failures regarding Form U4 filings for its registered representatives. A form U4 is the Uniform Application for Securities Industry Registration or Transfer. Those forms would have disclosed the Citigroup reps’ “unsatisfied tax liens and judgments,”… Read More >>
Key Groups Push to Start T+1 in 2024
The goalpost for the move by U.S. equities markets from T+2 to the shorter T+1 settlement cycle has shifted from 2023 to the first half of 2024 after an outreach to the industry revealed that more time was needed to revamp and test systems, workflows, and operations to facilitate this fundamental change to securities transaction processing…. Read More >>
Aegis Capital Settles Charges of Excessive Trading
FINRA, the financial services industry’s self-regulatory authority, has levied fines and a sanction against Aegis Capital Corp. and two of its supervisors, Joseph Giordano and Roberto Birardi. Aegis Capital neither admits nor denies the FINRA accusations. However, Aegis will pay $1.7 million in restitution to 68 customers “whose accounts were potentially excessively and unsuitably traded… Read More >>
tZero’s ATS to Offer Clearing & Settlement
FINRA Gives tZero ATS the Green Light The tZero ATS, an alternative trading system/broker-dealer subsidiary of blockchain technology vendor tZero, reports that it has achieved what it says is a milestone development — the approval to offer settlement and clearing services for securities transactions for itself and its broker-dealer affiliates, officials say. The Financial… Read More >>
CME Group Offers Clearing for Sustainable Derivatives
Clearing Service to Launch Next Week CME Group is claiming a first for derivatives trading with the September 27 launch of the Sustainable Clearing service intended to help firms “track and report on how their hedging activities are advancing their sustainability goals,” officials announce. “This service will allow clients to demonstrate commitment to ESG-positive business… Read More >>
Regulatory Burdens Don’t End in the Cloud: FINRA
Many securities-trading firms have shifted their IT infrastructures to the cloud, but that does not change their regulatory responsibilities and may lead to new ones, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a self-regulatory organization (SRO) for broker-dealers. In a new research report, FINRA officials acknowledge that while cloud computing models promise “the potential… Read More >>
FBI, SEC & FINRA Warn Against Imposter Brokers
None other than Larson E. Whipsnade himself declared, “You can’t cheat an honest man.” That was in the 1939 movie of the same name, and Whipsnade was played by W.C. Fields. So, it should come as no surprise that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Financial Interest… Read More >>
Gary Gensler’s SEC Takes Shape
As expected, SEC Chair Gary Gensler is taking the regulatory agency in a different direction than the most recent chairman Jay Clayton. Recent actions are pointing to a more activist environment and a new era of rulemaking. For starters, Gensler recently announced his policy team, which will be led by Heather Slavkin Corzo, policy director…. Read More >>
Merrill Lynch Pays $11M+ to Settle UIT Case
FINRA, the self-regulatory authority for broker-dealers, has fined Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. $3.25 million for “failing to reasonably supervise” early unit investment trust rollovers. In addition to the fine, the firm will be paying $8.4 million in restitution to “harmed” customers. In the usual formulation, Merrill Lynch neither confirms nor denies the… Read More >>
