FINRA’s 5 Key Enforcement Trends to Watch in 2012

The number of FINRA's "supersized" fines ($1 million or more) has dwindled in recent years, from 19 reported in both 2006 and 2007, to 10 in 2009, and only six in 2010. Although the number of these large fines grew only to 10 in 2011, the total amount of these fines exploded from $14.2 million in 2010 to more than $35 million in 2011. This includes five fines of at least $3 million and a short selling case that resulted in a $12 million fine.

Sutherland's FINRA Sanctions Survey noted that short selling cases led to the second largest amount of fines for the regulator in 2011. FINRA reported $16.8 million in fines from 38 cases involving alleged short selling violations in 2011. However, this was due largely to a single case that resulted in a $12 million fine (FINRA's largest fine in 2011) for a firm's alleged violations of Regulation SHO and corresponding supervisory deficiencies. Regulation SHO requires a seller to reasonably believe a security can be acquired and delivered before it may be sold short. It also requires sellers to mark the shares as either long or short. 

4)  Mutual Fund Comeback 

After yielding the most fines in both 2008 and 2009, fines stemming from disciplinary actions involving mutual funds dropped dramatically in 2010. In fact, there were only 12 mutual fund cases in 2010, totaling only $1.3 million in fines. In comparison, mutual fund cases generated more than $12 million and $10.3 million in fines in 2008 and 2009 and $104 million and $95 million in fines in 2005 and 2006.

Although the $5.1 million in 2011 fines is only a small percentage of these earlier numbers, it is a substantial increase from 2010's figures. With the number of mutual fund cases (55) and the total amount of corresponding fines more than quadrupling during the past year compared to 2010, it seems likely that these products will once again become an area of emphasis for FINRA.

5)  Electronic Communications 

A 65% increase in the number of electronic communications cases between 2010 and 2011, along with a 10% decrease in the total amount of annual fines, may demonstrate that many firms have effectively addressed large issues such as email retention, Sutherland says. Out of the 57 electronic communications cases reported in 2011, only four resulted in sanctions of $200,000 or greater (in comparison to five out of 2010's 34 cases). 

In 2011, there were four relatively large cases involving electronic communications.  One firm was fined more than $900,000 after it allegedly failed to retain any emails for at least three years.  Although the firms in the other three cases captured and retained emails, FINRA found that their efforts were inadequate. FINRA fined one firm $300,000 because the firm's network allegedly retained emails for only 60 days and users could remove email records by deleting previously deleted files a second time.  Even though this firm had relied on a third-party to create its email retention system, FINRA alleged that the firm was liable for the alleged violations. 

Read FINRA's Top 5 Enforcement Issues in 2011 at AdvisorOne.