U.S. securities regulators have fined three brokerage firms US$900,000 for inadequate anti-money laundering programs.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced that it has fined three firms a total of $900,000 — US$350,000 for Atlas One Financial Group, LLC; US$300,000 for Firstrade Securities, Inc.; and, US$250,000 for World Trade Financial Corp. (WTF) — for failing to establish and implement adequate anti-money laundering (AML) programs and other supervisory systems to detect suspicious transactions. FINRA also fined and suspended four executives involved.
In concluding the settlements, the firms and executives neither admitted nor denied the charges, but consented to the entry of FINRA’s findings.
“Today’s actions reinforce FINRA’s continued focus on firms’ ability to identify and respond to potential misuse and abuse of the markets,” said Brad Bennett, FINRA executive vice president and chief of enforcement. “Firms must have adequate AML and supervisory systems in place to detect and report suspicious transactions.”