Close Close
Popular Financial Topics Discover relevant content from across the suite of ALM legal publications From the Industry More content from ThinkAdvisor and select sponsors Investment Advisor Issue Gallery Read digital editions of Investment Advisor Magazine Tax Facts Get clear, current, and reliable answers to pressing tax questions
Luminaries Awards
ThinkAdvisor
FINRA building in Philadelphia

Regulation and Compliance > Federal Regulation > FINRA

BD Fined for WSPs With No Mention of Reg BI

X
Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has censured and fined a broker-dealer $60,000 for failing to establish and maintain written policies and procedures reasonably designed to achieve compliance with Reg BI and the Form CRS requirements.

Since June 30, 2020, JVM Securities has acted as placement agent for private placement offerings that it has recommended to retail customers, according to FINRA’s order.

However, the firm’s written policies and procedures contained no provisions relating to Reg BI until March 1, 2022.

After that date, “the firm’s various updated versions of its policies and procedures have discussed Reg BI only in general terms, have not been tailored to the firm’s business, and have not prescribed procedures for complying with Reg BI,” the order states.

For instance, “one version of the policies and procedures discussed customer account monitoring services, even though the firm did not maintain customer accounts,” the order states. “And the firm’s current policies and procedures do not specify the steps that registered representatives must take to comply with Reg BI.”

The firm’s current policies and procedures are also not reasonably designed to achieve compliance with Reg BI’s conflict of interest obligation, according to FINRA.

“Although the firm has recommended offerings of securities issued by its affiliates, its policies and procedures do not address potential conflicts of interest relating to those recommendations,” the order states.

The firm did not respond to a request for comment. It consented to FINRA’s findings without admitting or denying them.

No Supervisory System for Reg BI

Since June 30, 2020, JVM Securities “has failed to establish and maintain” a supervisory system, including written supervisory procedures, “reasonably designed to achieve compliance” with Reg BI.

For instance, “one version of the WSPs delegated responsibility to a ‘Reg BI principal,’ but did not identify the principal,” the order states.

Also, the firm’s current WSPs “fail to detail the supervisory steps and reviews that should be undertaken by the principal responsible for supervising compliance with Reg BI — including the frequency of those reviews or how the reviews should be documented,” FINRA said.

Form CRS Failures

From June 30, 2020, to July 18, 2023, JVM Securities “also failed to establish and maintain a supervisory system, including WSPs, reasonably designed to achieve compliance” with its Form CRS obligations.

“Until March 1, 2022, JVM Securities’ WSPs contained no reference to Form CRS,” according to FINRA.

Until the firm adopted revised WSPs on July 19, 2023, the WSPs “were not tailored to the firm’s business and did not prescribe procedures for complying with the firm’s Form CRS obligations.”


NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.