FINRA Sanctions Oppenheimer & Co. $3.4 Million for Reporting Violations and More

FINRA says that the investment firm often reported essential data more than 4 years late

This January, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) fined investment bank and wealth management firm Oppenheimer & Co. $1.575 million for allegedly failing to report mandatory data, withholding documents in discovery for clients in arbitration, and for failing to apply sales charge waivers to clients. As a part of the settlement agreement, FINRA also ordered the company to pay $1.85 million in restitution to clients.

According to FINRA, lack of reporting was pervasive throughout the firm

FINRA says that Oppenheimer & Co. failed to report over 350 cases on time – cases that included instances of employee discipline as well as arbitration and litigation settlements. Reporting these and other important firm actions is required by FINRA regulations, and despite the fact that Oppenheimer & Co. had faced similar sanctions from FINRA several years ago, and had promised to change both their reporting methods and improve the effectiveness of their employee-supervision protocols, FINRA alleged that little had actually changed within the firm.

Oppenheimer & Co.’s previous clashes with FINRA and the SEC resulted in similar sanctions

This recent settlement is not the first brush Oppenheimer & Co. has had with financial regulatory authorities. In 2015, FINRA fined Oppenheimer $2.5 million and ordered the company to pay $1.25 million in restitution to customers who had been victims of broker theft and excessive trading. During this investigation, FINRA also found that Oppenheimer & Co. had made over 300 required filings an average of 238 days late, making it appear that the firm’s practice of untimely FINRA reporting isn’t new.

What these allegations may mean about Oppenheimer & Co. and similar firms

It’s important to understand that none of these new sanctions conclusively demonstrate that Oppenheimer & Co. did anything in particular to deceive or defraud their customers or to provide false information to FINRA. However, in many cases, firms that have a history of withholding information from regulatory groups like FINRA and the SEC may be trying to hide something – and at the very least, it can be said that firms like Oppenheimer & Co. are not being as transparent as they could be, which might be interpreted as a warning sign for investors to proceed with caution.

If you’ve lost money due to fraud or mismanagement at a firm that failed to report information to FINRA in a timely manner, you may be able to recover some or all of your losses. To see if a firm you’ve invested in has been charged by the SEC, visit the SEC Newsroom today, and to check up on a broker or brokerage firm, use BrokerCheck, a free service from FINRA.

The attorneys at Silver Law Group are leaders in the field of securities arbitration. Scott Silver is the current chair of the American Trial Lawyers Association Securities and Financial Fraud Group and we represent individual and institutional investors across the United States who have lost money at the hands of a trusted financial advisor or firm.

Our services are provided on a contingency-fee basis, which means we are only compensated if there is a recovery of losses. Contact us for a complimentary consultation about your situation.