- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Aaron Nicodemus2024-08-13T16:06:00
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.
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.
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.
Cambria Capital agreed to pay $100,000, hire an independent anti-money laundering consultant, and be censured for failing to file suspicious activity reports on certain transactions over a two-year period, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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.
