The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that 11 financial firms, including broker-dealers and investment advisers, have agreed to pay more than $88 million in penalties to settle charges of failures to comply with federal record-keeping laws.
The SEC said in a Sept. 24 announcement that the violations were related to the improper use of unapproved electronic communication methods—known as “off-channel communications”—that the firms failed to preserve, potentially impeding the agency’s ability to conduct investigations.
The SEC’s enforcement actions targeted firms across the financial sector, with penalties ranging from $35 million for Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, and Invesco Distributors, to $325,000 for Focused Wealth Management. In total, the fines amount to $88.2 million….