FINRA Hits BD With $250K Fine Over Emails, IMs

By Melanie Waddell

News March 29, 2024 at 03:22 PM

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The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined H2C Securities $250,000 for failing to preserve and review over 1.25 million business-related electronic communications on four platforms.

According to FINRA's order, from at least January 2013 to June 2021, H2C Securities failed to preserve and review the electronic communications, the vast majority of which were mass marketing emails.

During this period, "the firm's supervisory system, including written supervisory procedures, was not reasonably designed to achieve compliance with the firm's obligation to capture, retain, and review communications sent or received using these electronic communication platforms," FINRA's order states.

The business-related electronic communications included internal and external emails, instant messages, mass marketing materials, and documents requiring customers' electronic signatures.

"These communications were sent or received by associated persons of H2C using four platforms that the firm made available to them," the order states.

"During this period, the firm's supervisory system failed to address the use of the four platforms at issue or how the firm would capture, preserve, and review communications made through them," the order explains.

The firm's written supervisory procedures failed to identify:

that associated persons had access to these platforms;
the circumstances under which associated persons could use these platforms for electronic communications; or
how the firm would preserve and review communications made through these platforms.