New York-based broker-dealer OTC Link will pay a $1.2 million fine to settle charges levied by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over allegedly failing to implement a system to monitor and report potential suspicious activities on its platforms.

The company, which operates three alternative trading system platforms, failed to file even one suspicious activity report (SAR) with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) over a three-year period, despite executing thousands of transactions each day in high-risk over-the-counter (OTC) securities, the SEC said Monday in a press release. OTC Link also agreed to a cease-and-desist order and a censure.

OTC securities, which include microcap and penny stock securities, are deemed to be higher risk “because they typically have no minimum listing standards, lack liquidity, and have high volatility, and because there is often a lack of public information available about these securities,” the SEC said in its order.