Alerts

FINRA Hearing Panel Decides Clearing Firm’s Overall AML Program Was Adequate and Reasonable

August 24, 2010

On March 5, 2010, a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) Hearing Panel (“Hearing Panel”) issued a decision in which it found that the anti-money laundering (“AML”) procedures implemented by Alabama-based Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc. (“Sterne” or the “Firm”), a regional clearing firm, from April 2002 through July 2005, and in most respects, for the period from July 2006 to April 2007,were reasonably designed to achieve and monitor compliance with the AML laws, as required by NASD Conduct Rule 3011. The Hearing Panel found that Sterne violated NASD Conduct Rules 3011 and 2110 and MSRB Rule G-41 in certain respects, and for these deficiencies, imposed a fine of $40,000.