Salt Lake City-based Alpine Securities Corp. was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday with failing to adhere to anti-money laundering rules by alleging the broker-dealer cleared transactions for microcap stocks that were used in manipulative schemes to harm investors.
The SEC's complaint alleges that the broker-dealer "routinely and systematically" failed to file suspicious activity reports for stock transactions that it flagged as suspicious.
When the BD did file SARs, "Alpine Securities allegedly frequently omitted the very information that formed the bases for Alpine knowing, suspecting or having reason to suspect that a transaction was suspicious," the SEC states.
Guidance for preparing SARs from the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) clearly states that "[e]xplaining why the transaction is suspicious is critical," the complaint states.
The complaint cites the following SARs infractions by Alpine:
