SEC headquarters in Washington. (Photo: National Law Journal)
A New York-based brokerage firm admitted that it failed to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) on numerous suspicious transactions, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Broker-dealers are required to file SARs for certain transactions that are suspected to involve fraudulent activity or that have no business or apparent lawful purpose.
The SEC's order found that Aegis Capital Corp. failed to file SARs on suspicious transactions that raised red flags indicating the transactions were potentially related to the market manipulation of low-priced securities.
"Aegis failed to meet its [anti-money laundering] obligations to report suspicious activity, including when it was faced with specific information alerting the firm to suspicious transactions," Antonia Chion, associate director and head of the Broker-Dealer Task Force of the SEC's Enforcement Division, said in a statement.
