FINRA’s Top Five Fine Categories for 2021

Posted on March 28th, 2022 at 3:28 PM
FINRA’s Top Five Fine Categories for 2021

"From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law:

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued $91 million in fines in 2021, which constitutes a 60% increase from $57 million in 2020, according to ThinkAdvisor. The 2021 fine total is the highest since 2016 when FINRA imposed $174 million in fines. However, much of FINRA’s 2021 total constitutes Robinhood’s payment of $57 million in fines and $12.6 million in restitution relating to supervisory failures and investor harm. Here are FINRA’s top five fine categories in 2021: 

#5. Municipal Securities: In 2021, FINRA reported seven municipal securities cases, which totaled $3 million fines. While municipal securities have not appeared on the list since 2019, fines in this category increased from only $335,000 in 2020. 

#4. Trade Reporting: FINRA reported nine trade reporting cases, which resulted in $3.4 million in fines in 2021. The number of cases decreased by 74% while fines decreased by nearly 51%. In the largest 2021 case, FINRA fined a firm $2.6 million for inaccurately reporting over-the-counter (OTC) options positions to the Large Options Positions Reporting System. 

#3. Suitability: FINRA reported 54 suitability cases in 2021, which is an increase of 29% in comparison to 42 cases in 2020. Additionally, fines related to suitability jumped by 109% percent from $1.9 million in 2020 to $3.9 million in 2021. FINRA additionally ordered $7.3 million in restitution in suitability cases, which constitutes a decrease from the $9.9 million in 2020. 

#2. Unit Investment Trusts (UITs): In 2021, FINRA reported five UIT cases, which resulted in $3.9 million in fines and $10.9 million in restitution. UIT fines primarily were attributable to one case in which FINRA issued a $3.25 million fine relating to the firm’s failure to supervise early UIT rollovers, which caused clients to incur potentially excess sales charges. 

#1. Anit-Money Laundering (AML): FINRA reported 16 AML cases in 2021, which is an increase from 14 cases in 2020. Furthermore, FINRA issued $4.6 million in fines in 2021, compared to $16.2 million in 2020. AML remained in the top spot of the list for the sixth consecutive year primarily due to three large, six-figure settlements. In one case, FINRA fined a firm $650,000 and determined that the firm failed to monitor suspicious activity pertaining to low-price securities transactions. 

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, regulatory and disciplinary matters.

 

Tags: eccleston law, finra, fines

Return to Archive

TESTIMONIALS

Previous
Next

I just received this letter from the CFP Board. Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!

David Y

LATEST NEWS AND ARTICLES

March 21, 2025
SEC Updates Marketing Rule Guidance to Clarify Extracted Performance and Portfolio Metrics

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued updated guidance on its marketing rule, addressing industry concerns regarding net performance requirements, extracted performance, and portfolio characteristics.

March 20, 2025
Stifel Loses Raiding Case, Ordered to Pay Over $7 Million in Legal Fees

Stifel Financial has lost its raiding and breach-of-contract claim against a group of advisors who left its Indianapolis office to establish their own firm.

March 19, 2025
FINRA Enforcement Actions in 2024: Fines Drop But Cases Increase

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) imposed $59 million in fines in 2024, reflecting a 35 percent decrease from the previous year, according to an analysis by Eversheds Sutherland.