A judgment issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit became final in which the firm was fined $300,000. Mr. Wedbush was fined $50,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA® member in any principal capacity for 31 days. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied the firm and Mr. Wedbush’s petition for review. The sanctions were based on findings that, for five-and-a-half years, the firm committed 158 regulatory reporting violations. Specifically, the firm reported a total of 129 events late on Forms RE-3, Uniform Application for Securities Industry Registration or Transfer (Form U4) and Uniform Termination Notice for Securities Industry Registration (Form U5), and Rule 3070 Reports; reported 18 events inaccurately; and failed to file a total of 11 Forms RE-3, U4 and U5. The findings stated that the firm and Mr. Wedbush failed to reasonably supervise regulatory reporting, failed to effectively and reasonably implement the firm’s supervisory system related to regulatory reporting, failed to act decisively to detect and prevent future regulatory reporting rule violations and failed to implement corrective measures that were timely and sufficient to address the regulatory reporting failures.
The suspension is in effect from August 20, 2018, through September 19, 2018. (FINRA Case # 2007009404401)