Fined by Finra

Cetera Investment Services, LLC (CRD# 15340) entered into a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”) with FINRA after the regulatory body alleged it failed to notify account owners regarding changes to their account records.

According to the AWC, from October 1, 2008 through November 15, 2013, Cetera failed to mail or otherwise furnish 57,881 notifications to account owners of record regarding changes to their accounts, including, changes in the name of the account holder, address changes and more importantly, investment objective changes in the account. The significance of this that any change in the investment objectives in the account would affect what would be considered a suitable investment.

As part of the AWC, Cetera agreed to a censure and a fine in the amount of $75,000. Since Cetera’s formation in November 2012, it has been subject to nine (9) disclosures on its FINRA BrokerCheck report.

Firm Allegedly Listed Commissions as “Miscellaneous” or “Additional Fees”

BlackBook Capital, LLC, with headquarters on Wall Street in New York City, has been sanctioned by FINRA for allegedly mischaracterizing and understating commissions charged to its investors, among other charges.

According to the FINRA disclosure, the firm –without admitting or denying the findings – consented to the sanctions and the entry of findings that it charged its customers $60.50 on separate transactions in addition to or in place of a designated commission charge. The charges were allegedly listed as “miscellaneous” or “additional fee,” however a large portion of the charge could not be contributed to a cost or expense incurred by the firm. In short, it was a minimum commission charge.

Articles Tagged with Fined by Finra

Cetera Investment Services, LLC Sanctioned by FINRA for Failure to Notify of Material Changes to Accounts

Blackbook Capital LLC Fined $50,000 by FINRA

Firm Allegedly Listed Commissions as “Miscellaneous” or “Additional Fees”