FINRA Fines BMA Securities

On February 2, 2017, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) accepted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”), from BMA Securities, LLC (CRD #108219, El Segundo, California). BMA Securities was censured and fined $25,000.

Without admitting or denying the findings, BMA Securities consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that on 110 occasions, it accepted a short sale order in an equity security from another person, or effected a short sale in an equity security for its own account, without borrowing the security, or entering into a bona-fide arrangement to borrow the security; or having reasonable grounds to believe that the security could be borrowed so that it could be delivered on the date delivery is due; and documenting compliance with Rule 203(b)(1) of Regulation SHO.

The findings stated that BMA Securities executed short sale transactions and failed to report each of these transactions to the Over-the-Counter (OTC) Reporting FacilityTM (ORFTM) with a short sale modifier. The findings also stated that the firm’s supervisory system did not provide for supervision reasonably designed to achieve compliance with respect to the applicable securities laws and regulations and FINRA rules. The firm’s WSPs failed to provide for one or more of the minimum requirements for adequate WSPs concerning compliance with the Locate requirement under Rule 203(b)(1) of Regulation SHO and FINRA rules governing trade reporting of short sales.

For further information about this securities law blog post, please contact Brenda Hamilton, Securities Attorney at 101 Plaza Real S, Suite 202 N, Boca Raton, Florida, (561) 416-8956 or by email at [email protected]. This securities law blog post is provided as a general informational service to clients and friends of Hamilton & Associates Law Group and should not be construed as, and does not constitute, legal and compliance advice on any specific matter, nor does this message create an attorney-client relationship. Please note that the prior results discussed herein do not guarantee similar outcomes.

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