FINRA Headlines: SRO Fines Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Barclays Capital $1M Each & Makes Dark Pool Data Available

FINRA Fines Merrill Lynch, Goldman, and Barclays Capital $1M Each Over Blue Sheet Data
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has issued a censure that fines Goldman Sachs & Co. (GS), Merrill Lynch, Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc., and Barclays Capital Inc. $1 million each. The firms are accused of not submitting accurate and complete data about trades conducted by them and their customers to the SRO and other regulators. This information is known as “blue sheet” data. Firms are legally required to give regulators this information upon request.

Blue sheets give regulators specific information about trades, including the name of a security, the price, the day it was traded, who was involved, and the size of transaction. This information is helpful to identify anomalies in trading and look into possible market manipulations.

The three firms, which all have a prior history of submitting inaccurate blue sheet data, settled the charges without denying or admitting to the allegations. Meantime, FINRA has also put out a complaint against Wedbush Inc. also over submitting inaccurate blue sheet information. That case, however, has not been adjudicated yet.

FINRA Gives the Public Access to Dark Pool Data
To enhance market transparency and boost investor confidence, this week FINRA started providing data about the activity levels in all of the different alternative trading systems. This includes information pertaining to dark pools.

Currently, ATSs are involved in a significant chunk of OTC trading in exchange-listed equities located in the US. Although trades in ATSs have been available in real time to professionals and investors via securities information processors, they are not typically attributed to specific dark pools.

The newly available data should allow the public to see how many shares were traded each week in each dark pool. The information can be found on FINRA’s website and is free.

Meantime, as our stockbroker fraud law firm reported in another blog post, the Securities and Exchange Commission is also seeking to make dark pool venues more transparent.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LTD LLP represents investors in arbitration and in court. Contact us to find out whether you have reason to pursue a securities claim. Your consultation with one of our FINRA arbitration lawyers is free.

FINRA Fines Barclays Capital, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch $1 Million Each for Submitting Inaccurate Blue Sheet Data, FINRA, June 4, 2014

FINRA Makes Dark Pool Data Available Free to the Investing Public, FINRA, June 2, 2014

User Agreement, ATS Transparency Data, FINRA

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