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FINRA accepts AWC for alleged failure to mark-up and mark-down information on confirmations

Securities FINRA AWC

Securities

On July 10, FINRA accepted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent against a broker-dealer related to missing information on transaction confirmations. From June 2020 to September 2023, the broker-dealer allegedly failed to include certain mark-up and mark-down information on customer confirmations for 121 municipal securities transactions, in violation of Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Rule G-15. The rule required each broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer, at or before the completion of a transaction, to send written confirmation that included the dealer’s mark-up or mark-down as both a dollar and percentage amount of the prevailing market price. FINRA alleged that the confirmations included the dollar amount but did not include the relevant percentages because fields in the clearing firm’s system were not properly selected when entering the transactions.

Separately, from September 2019 to the present, FINRA alleged the broker-dealer failed to establish or maintain written supervisory procedures in violation of Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Rule G-27. Because the firm allegedly did not establish a supervisory system or conduct reviews to ensure that it properly confirmed the mark-ups and mark-downs referenced above, FINRA found a violation of Rule G-27. Given these findings, FINRA issued a censure, assessed a $30,000 fine, and required a registered principal of the firm to certify the firm will have remediated the issues FINRA identified within 60 days.