The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has settled with BGC Financial, a subsidiary of BGC Partners, on a fine of $100,000 for regulatory violation charges.
Announced today, the company was slapped with charges for TRACE reporting, recordkeeping, and supervision violations.
FINRA alleged that the brokerage reported TRACE 506 transactions within an incorrect time of trade Execution between July 1 and September 30, 2016, and again between April 1 and September 30, 2017. Also, the firm reported 1,304 transactions in TRACE-Eligible Securities between November 2, 2015, and September 27, 2017, that were not necessary for them to report.
The regulator detailed that these violations were due to incorrect manual entry in the recording time of trade execution by the firm’s traders or back-office personnel, as well as due to its incorrect reporting system.
Furthermore, FINRA alleged that BGC Financial recorded the incorrect time of trade execution on the memorandum of 77 brokerage orders between July 1 and September 30, 2016, and April 1 and September 30, 2017.
Lastly, the brokerage was flagged for not maintaining a supervisory system, including WSPs, that was reasonably designed to achieve Compliance with TRACE reporting requirements for two years.
Settlement to Avoid Any Further Actions
“Respondent hereby accepts and consents, without admitting or denying the findings, and solely for the purposes of this proceeding and any other proceeding brought by or on behalf of FINRA,” the company stated in the acceptance letter.
Out of the total $100,000 fine, $80,000 were for the TRACE and recordkeeping violations, while the rest were for breaking the supervision rules. The brokerage also had to sign an undertaking to revise its WSPs.
Meanwhile, FINRA is actively imposing fines on financial institutions for violations. Finance Magnates yesterday reported that Morgan Stanley settled with the regulator paying a fine of $175,000 for violations regarding short-term trades of corporate bonds.
