- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Kyle Brasseur2023-09-29T15:31:00
A dozen financial services firms were penalized by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as the agency continues its enforcement sweep of recordkeeping violations regarding employee use of off-channel communications for business purposes.
The latest round of fines announced Friday targeted broker-dealers, investment advisers, and credit rating agencies. The largest penalty the SEC assessed was $35 million against Interactive Brokers Corp. and its affiliate Interactive Brokers LLC. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also fined Interactive Brokers $20 million.
The CFTC did not levy any additional penalties against firms disciplined by the SEC. In previous sweeps, the agencies combined to dish out fines totaling $200 million or more to many of the world’s largest banks, including Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Wells Fargo.
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The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have combined to levy nearly $3.5 billion in penalties (so far) against firms and their affiliates in response to recordkeeping failures regarding employee use of off-channel communications for business purposes.
A New York state law that takes effect next year will make it more difficult for registered investment advisers in the state to conduct proactive testing for violations of their firms’ off-channel communication policies.
Businesses must step up their internal policing and do a better job of reporting violations to the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Gurbir Grewal, director of the agency’s Enforcement Division.
USAA Federal Savings Bank has been hit with its third cease and desist order from the Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in the past five years for failing to correct unsafe and unsound banking practices.
Becton Dickinson medical device company will pay $175 million for “repeatedly” misleading investors about its Alaris infusion pump, a product the company knew was flawed and was sold without the required patient-safety approvals, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged bankrupt fashion retailer Express with failing to disclose nearly $1 million in perks to a former chief executive, but did not levy a financial penalty thanks to its cooperation, the SEC said.
