Otherwise reputable Financial Institutions continue being sanctioned for regulatory non-compliance. Well known “household” names continue receiving fines for failing to establish and implement adequate Anti-Money Laundering (AML) procedures. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently fined Raymond James & Associates and Raymond James Financial Services $17MM. According to FINRA, the two firms failed to prevent, detect, investigate, and report suspicious activity for several years. Apparently, compliance officers and other individuals (partners, directors, officers or employees) can bear personal responsibility for failures to enforce Bank Secrecy Act/Anti Money Laundering standards; the AML Compliance Officer was also personally fined $25 thousand, and suspended for three years. Brad Bennett, FINRAs chief of enforcement, said: “This case demonstrates that when there are broad-based failures within specific areas of responsibility, we will seek individual liability where appropriate.”
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