In the first reversal of a five-year downward trend, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. posted a 43% jump in fines in 2020, to $57 million from $40 million in 2019, according to an annual analysis of Finra disciplinary actions by Eversheds Sutherland (US).
Fines in 2020 were in line with 2017 and 2018, when Finra ordered $65 million and $61 million in fines, respectively, the law firm said in a release. In 2016, the broker-dealer self-regulator ordered a record-setting $174 million in fines.
Finra continues to target anti-money laundering violations and appears to have focused much of its efforts on protecting retail investors, said firm partners Brian L. Rubin and Adam C. Pollet.
Amid the overall increase in fines last year, the number of cases with very large fines also increased slightly. Finra assessed ten fines of $1 million or more, totaling $38.6 million, compared with $28 million in such fines in 2019.
In 2020, restitution ordered by Finra increased 29%, to approximately $36 millio,n from $28 million in 2019; that's up 38% from the $26 million ordered in 2018.
Monetary sanctions ordered by Finra in 2020, which encompasses fines, restitution and disgorgement, totaled $94 million, or a 34% increase from the $70 million in total sanctions ordered in 2019. The total sanctions ordered in preceding years were significantly higher, however: $124 million in 2018; $150 million in 2017; and $207 million in 2016.
The number of disciplinary actions reported by Finra were up just 1% in 2020 — to 595 from 591 in 2019 — and down 7% from the 638 disciplinary actions in 2018.
Teams head for W-2 independence models with practices totaling almost $1B.
Acquisition adds 400 defined benefit plans and 1.5 million participants, pushing Empower deeper into workplace benefits.
Menlo Park firm brings $900m in AUM and specialist expertise serving Apple and Google employees.
Acquisition of the Shufro-Glass Group pushes the national RIA's total client assets above $157 billion.
IRAs now hold nearly twice the assets of 401(k) plans — and most of that money didn't arrive through annual contributions.
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
Direct indexing is on pace to outgrow ETFs and mutual funds. Northern Trust's Ken Lassner explains why the advisors who get it wish they had started sooner.
