Oregon's Division of Financial Regulation announced this week its participation in a multi-state settlement alleging that Raymond James & Associates and Raymond James Financial Services charged unreasonable commissions to retail customers on small-dollar transactions.
As ThinkAdvisor reported in 2023, an investigation by state securities regulators found that Raymond James charged "unreasonable commissions" on more than 270,000 equity trades and transactions nationwide between July 2018 and July 2023, resulting in alleged overcharges of $8.25 million.
According to Oregon officials, the firm charged unreasonable commissions totaling $96,551 to Oregon investors across some 2,740 transactions. As part of the settlement, Raymond James will pay restitution and interest of $109,350 directly to the affected Oregon investors and a $75,000 civil penalty to the state of Oregon.
"Our division is pleased to be a part of this multi-state action to protect Oregon investors and hold Raymond James accountable for charging unreasonably high commissions," said DFR administrator TK Keen. "This settlement is a reminder that our division will hold companies accountable if they breach the trust of their customers."
