The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Merrill Lynch $150,000 and censured the firm for allowing an executive with its non-FINRA member affiliate function as a principal in its prime brokerage business without being registered with FINRA, according to the regulator.
Merrill Lynch declined to comment Thursday. However, without admitting or denying the findings, Joaquin Sena, deputy general counsel for the firm, signed a FINRA letter of acceptance, waiver and consent April 29 in which the company agreed to FINRA’s sanctions. The letter was accepted by FINRA Wednesday.
The Merrill executive wasn’t named in the AWC letter, which claimed the individual, from April 2016 through the present, was actively engaged in the management of Merrill Lynch’s prime brokerage business in the U.S. and exercised overall managerial decision-making authority.