FINRA Hits BofA Securities with $24 Million Penalty for Spoofing Breaches

<p>The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has imposed a fine of $24 million against BofA Securities.
This action is a consequence of the firm's alleged involvement in over
700 instances of spoofing and related supervisory failures within the US Treasury
secondary markets, spanning more than six years.</p><p>Spoofing involves placing deceptive orders to create
a false impression of market activity. According to a statement by the
regulator, BofA Securities utilized this tactic through two former traders in the
US Treasury secondary markets from October 2014 to February 2021. The firm
allegedly engaged in 717 instances of spoofing. </p><p>Bill St. Louis, the Executive Vice President and
Head of Enforcement at the FINRA mentioned: "Spoofing undermines the
transparency and integrity of the markets by distorting the true nature of
supply and demand. This action sends a strong message that the FINRA will
aggressively pursue firms that engage in spoofing, including cross-product
spoofing."</p><p>FINRA Highlights Supervisory Failures</p><p>During this period, BofA Securities failed to
establish and maintain a supervisory system capable of detecting spoofing
activities in the US Treasury markets. In November 2015, the company
implemented the system, but until mid-2019, it was insufficient. It was only designed to detect algorithmic spoofing and not manual manipulation by
traders.</p><p>BofA Securities has <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/institutional-forex/finra-imposes-325000-fine-on-bofa-securities/" target="_blank" rel="follow">agreed to the FINRA's findings</a>
without admitting or denying the charges. Last year, the FINRA fined the company
$325,000 for allegedly publishing inaccurate monthly reports for order
<a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/e/execution/">execution</a>. </p><p>The watchdog revealed that between January 2014 and
February 2022, BofA Securities inaccurately reported order execution statistics
for its two market centers, MLCO and MLIX. The company allegedly flouted the requirement to report separate
statistical information under Rule 605, leading to the publication
of combined reports for both centers.</p><p>Heightened Regulatory Scrutiny in Brokerage
Practices </p><p>In June, Credit Suisse came under scrutiny <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/institutional-forex/finra-slaps-900k-penalty-on-credit-suisses-us-subsidiary/" target="_blank" rel="follow">after the FINRA imposed its US subsidiary a fine</a> of $900,000 for lapses in regulatory
reporting. The violations involved late trades and inaccurate Trade Reporting and <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/c/compliance/">Compliance</a>
Engine reports from November 2015 to March 2023.</p><p>Early this year, the FINRA <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/finra-hits-webull-with-3m-fine-for-permitting-unqualified-options-traders/" target="_blank" rel="follow">imposed a penalty worth $3 million</a> against Webull. It highlighted the firm's oversight in onboarding options
traders and a lack of adequate supervisory systems to identify and address
customer complaints. This oversight resulted in the approval of approximately
9,000 unqualified traders, including over 2,500 customers under the age of 21
who lacked the requisite options trading experience.</p>

This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.