The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is fining Oppenheimer & Co (OPY) $2.5M for not supervising Mark Hotton. The ex-broker stole from customers and excessively traded in their accounts. Oppenheimer must also pay $1.25 million in restitution.
To date, the brokerage firm has paid over $6 million to settle customer securities arbitration claims involving Hotton. This latest restitution will go to another 22 customers who did not file claims.
According to the self-regulatory organization, Oppenheimer did not properly investigate Hotton before hiring him, despite the fact that FINRA’s own records linked him to several customer complaints and criminal charges. After discovering that Hotton’s business partners sued him for bilking them out of millions of dollars, still the firm did not heighten supervision over him.
FINRA also said that Oppenheimer disregarded “red flags” in wire transfer requests and correspondence that indicated he was wiring money from customer accounts to entities that he controlled or belonged to him. Because of this, says the SRO, Hotton was able to move over $2.9 million of customer funds. (FINRA said that the firm did not properly supervise his trading of customer accounts even though its surveillance analysts noticed that he was trading at levels that appeared excessive.)
The regulator said that Oppenheimer made over 300 required filings to the SRO in an untimely fashion, with many submitted over 230 days late. Because of this, said FINRA, the public did not become aware of the serious claims made against some of the firm’s registered representatives, including Hotton, until later. By settling with the SRO, Oppenehimer is consenting to an entry of FINRA’s findings. It has not, however, admitted to or denied the charges.
Meantime, last year, Hotton was sentenced to 34 months in prison last year. Among his victims were the producers of the Broadway play “Rebeccca the Musical.” He also bilked a real estate firm in Connecticut.
The Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (PDF)
FINRA Sanctions Oppenheimer & Co. $3.75 Million for Supervisory Failures, FINRA, March 26, 2015
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Oppenheimer to Pay $20M Settlement to the SEC and FinCEN Over Penny Stock Violations, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, January 28, 2015
SEC Sanctions UBS, Charles Swab, Oppenheimer, & 10 Other Firms For Improper Sales of Puerto Rico Junk Bonds, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, November 3, 2014