- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Kyle Brasseur2023-07-11T17:32:00
Merrill Lynch was assessed penalties totaling $12 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for allegedly failing to file nearly 1,500 required suspicious activity reports (SARs) over the course of a decade.
On Tuesday, the SEC and FINRA each announced fines of $6 million against the broker-dealer. The SEC also cited BAC North America Holding Co. (BACNAH), Merrill Lynch’s parent company, for its role in the alleged failures.
Following the 2009 merger between Merrill Lynch and Bank of America, BACNAH assumed responsibility for creating and implementing Merrill Lynch’s SAR policies and procedures and filing its reports, according to the SEC. During this transition, BACNAH incorrectly applied a $25,000 threshold for reporting suspicious activity, when it should have been $5,000.
THIS IS MEMBERS-ONLY CONTENT. To continue reading, choose one of the options below.
News and analysis for the well-informed compliance or audit exec. Select an option and click continue.
Annual Membership $499 Value offer
Full price one year membership with auto-renewal.
Membership $599
One-year only, no auto-renewal.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued two separate fines against Merrill Lynch and BofA Securities totaling nearly $2.3 million for reporting violations and failing to timely file amendments on registration forms for their registered representatives.
A registered representative at an unnamed brokerage firm will pay $20,000 to settle charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission that he failed to notify the firm’s anti-money laundering department of apparent suspicious transactions.
Archipelago Trading Services agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly failing to file nearly 500 suspicious activity reports largely related to microcap or penny stock securities transactions.
A Berkshire Hathaway unit that is a major lender to people buying mobile homes intentionally failed to qualify borrowers, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleged in a complaint. As a result, many families ultimately lost their homes and sank into debt, echoing a series of events that helped power the ...
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued fines against four large banks to end 2024, all for different alleged misconduct, but all related to the firms’ failures to implement a supervisory system reasonably designed to achieve compliance with FINRA rules.
An alleged software mastermind of the notorious LockBit ransomware group will soon be extradited to the United States to stand trial on charges that his criminal enterprise extorted at least half a billion dollars from victims worldwide, including U.S. businesses and hospitals, the Department of Justice (DOJ), said.
