Oregon orders Raymond James to pay nearly $200K over ‘unreasonable commissions’

Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

State regulator imposes penalties in relation to overcharging exposed by multistate investigation.

Raymond James has been ordered to pay nearly $200,000 in Oregon following an investigation that revealed a multiyear pattern of overcharging that cost retail investors millions of dollars.

In a statement dated January 31, the state’s Division of Financial Regulation said a coordinated investigation by several state securities regulators revealed that Raymond James & Associates, Inc. and Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. overcharged retail customers on small transactions.

The investigation concluded that Raymond James had levied “unreasonable commissions” on customers over five years, from July 1, 2018 to July 17, 2023.

“Our division is pleased to be a part of this multistate action to protect Oregon investors and hold Raymond James accountable for charging unreasonably high commissions,” said the division’s administrator, TK Keen.

All told, the regulators found the broker-dealer giant had overcharged investors nationwide on more than 270,000 equity trades and transactions.

According to a consent order published by the division, that includes approximately 33,638 equity buy transactions and roughly 99,415 equity sell transactions by Raymond James Associates, and 41,515 equity buy transactions and 97,120 equity sell transactions by Raymond James Financial Services.

“In Oregon, Raymond James charged unreasonable commissions totaling $96,550.83 to Oregon investors in 2,740 transactions,” the Division of Financial Regulation said in its statement.

According to the consent order, those excessive charges stemmed from a failure by Raymond James Associates and Raymond James Financial Services to monitor transactions that included a “minimum equity commission” charge, which would have ensured customers were charged a reasonable commission and fee.

This isn’t the first time Raymond James fell short in its duty to avoid overcharging retail investors.

In 2011, Raymond James Associates and Raymond James Financial Services were required to pay a collective $1.7 million to customers and fines totalling $425,000 to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., related to a similar violation involving the “application of automated commission schedules to certain low-priced securities transactions [which] did not consider whether such commissions were fair and reasonable.

“Despite these sanctions, Respondents did not implement or maintain adequate compliance and supervisory systems to monitor Minimum Equity Commissions,” Oregon noted in its consent order.

As part of a multistate settlement, Raymond James will be paying restitution and interest of $109,349.94 directly to the affected Oregon investors, along with a $75,000 civil penalty to the state of Oregon.

“Protecting investors from unfair practices is a charge we take seriously,” Keen said. “This settlement is a reminder that our division will hold companies accountable if they breach the trust of their customers.”