South Florida Arbitration & Litigation Lawyer Blog
FINRA Corporate and Municipal Bond Fraud and Mismanagement Arbitration Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq.
July, 2011:
FMSbonds, Inc. (CRD #7793, Boca Raton, Florida) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which the firm was censured and fined $100,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to deliver official statements by the settlement date to numerous customers who purchased new issue municipal securities during the primary offering disclosure period; in all of these transactions, the firm was neither an underwriter nor part of the underwriting syndicate but was required to deliver an official statement to each customer by the settlement date. The findings stated that the firm failed to keep a record of deliveries of official statements to purchasers of new issue municipal securities, as Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) Rule G-8(a)(xiii) required. The findings also stated that the firm failed to adopt, maintain and enforce adequate written supervisory procedures pertaining to the firm’s official statement delivery requirements to customers who purchased new issue municipal securities for secondary market transactions that occurred during the primary offering disclosure period, including those transactions in which the firm was not an underwriter nor part of the underwriting syndicate, as MSRB Rule G-32required; and the firm’s requirements to maintain various records pertaining to its obligations to deliver official statements to customers who purchased new issue municipal securities, including those transactions in which the firm was not an underwriter nor part of the underwriting syndicate, as MSRB Rule G-8 required. (FINRA Case #2009019191401