Finra fines Meyers Associates $700,000 over sales literature

Bruce Meyers also fined $75,000 for supervision failures and barred from serving as a principal or supervisor.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. has fined New York-based Meyers Associates $700,000 and barred its principal, Bruce Meyers, from serving as a principal of a firm or as a supervisor.

Violations included having sent misleading sales literature by email and failing to supervise preparation of the firm’s books and records. Finra also fined Mr. Meyers $75,000.

The firm is now known as Windsor Street Capital.

Finra’s National Adjudicatory Council, whose decision included the fines and bar, previously called Meyers Associates’ disciplinary history “highly troubling.” It said that the firm has been the subject of 16 final disciplinary actions since 2000, and has paid approximately $390,000 in monetary sanctions as result of the actions, which included supervisory failure, making untrue statements or omitting to state material facts in connection with a securities offering, failing to keep adequate books and records, inadequate review of electronic correspondence, and failing to report or timely report customer complaints. The most recent disciplinary action was brought by the Connecticut Department of Banking in March 2015, resulting in his statutory disqualification.

To settle one of these actions, Mr. Meyers served a four-month suspension in all principal and supervisory capacities.

In September, the Securities and Exchange Commission denied Mr. Meyers’ appeal of a Finra decision in which he was disqualified from serving as his firm’s chief executive.