The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) brought more enforcement actions against broker-dealers through April 2011 than in the same period for the past three years, according to a Reuters report.
According to Bradley Bennett, the BD regulator's enforcement chief, FINRA has brought 449 cases through April 30, the highest amount for this four-month period since 2007. FINRA also has levied $14.5 million in fines, an increase from the same period last year, Bennett said during a May 18 Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association luncheon in New York.
By comparison, Reuters notes that, according to Bennett, FINRA brought 1,310 disciplinary actions and levied fines totaling $42.5 million for all of last year, compared with 1,158 actions and $48 million of fines in 2009.