Finra fines Wells Fargo $3.25 million for options trade reporting violations

Firm censured for inaccuracies and errors in OTC options reports from 2008 through this year.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. has censured Wells Fargo Securities and fined it $3.25 million for errors and inaccuracies in reporting over-the-counter options trades conducted between January 2008 and March of this year.

Finra said that Wells Fargo conducted a review of its reporting procedures in connection with OTC options trades in early 2008, after a particularly large trade. According to a Finra letter of acceptance, waiver and consent, the firm then decided to develop systems for the reporting of such trades that it had not been reporting.

But Finra said that following “certain business combinations” in the fall of 2008, the firm’s reporting system was “never fully developed or implemented,” and the reporting of the OTC options trades did not occur until after the firm became self-clearing in mid-2014. Even after that date, however, the firm failed to report or inaccurately reported, a significant number of OTC options trades and “had deficient written supervisory procedures.”