Financial Firm News: NH Regulator Fines Merrill Lynch $400K for Telemarketing Compliance Shortfalls, Court Orders Vasquez Global Investments to Pay More Than $1.3M for Commodity Pool Fraud, and FINRA Sanctions Monex Securities Inc.

New Hampshire Says Merrill Lynch Must Pay $400,000 For Not Complying with Telemarketing Rules

Bank of America (BAC) Merrill Lynch has consented to pay $400,000 to resolve claims made by the New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation accusing the firm of improperly soliciting business when it called people who were on do-not-call lists and were not clients. As part of the deal, Merrill Lynch will improve its telemarketing procedures and policies. A spokesperson for the brokerage firm says it has already enhanced internal controls to avoid making inappropriate calls moving forward.

According to the regulator, not only did the broker-dealer fail to fully comprehend how to comply with the state’s rules for telemarketing but also the firm did not reasonably supervise its agents’ telemarketing activities in New Hampshire.

Vasquez Global Investments to Pay Over $1.3M For Bilking Participants in Commodity Pool

A federal judge has ordered Edwin Arden and his Vasquez Global Investments, LLC to pay over $1.3 million for running a commodity pool fraud. Per the order, issued by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, both Vasquez and VGI must pay over $330,000 in restitution and a monetary penalty of $994,668. They also must contend with permanent solicitation, trading, and registration bans. The order is the result of a U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission complaint issued earlier this year charging both Vasquez and his firm with solicitation fraud, misappropriation, and making false statements related to the Vasquez pool, which is an unregistered commodity trading pool.

The court order states that beginning in August 2011, Vasquez bilked and deceived at least 19 participants that had collectively invested over 580K in the Vasquez pool. He purportedly told prospective participants that he had a successful track record as a trader and investing in the pool was not high risk.

The order said that of the money Vasquez solicited from participants, VGI lost $65,374 when trading commodity futures and misappropriated $331,556 by using the money to cover the company’s operating costs and Vasquez’s personal spending. Still, Vasquez purportedly chose not to disclose the misappropriation and trading losses and sent pool participants bogus statements about the value of their pool shares and their “profitability.”

Monex Securities Inc. Ordered by FINRA to Pay $1.3M Sanction for Inadequate Supervision

FINRA has sanctioned Monex Securities Inc. and is ordering the firm to pay $1.1 million in disgorgement of commissions and interest that foreign individuals who were not registered with the regulator obtained when selling the securities for the firm. The self-regulatory organization fined Monex $175,000 for not registering the individuals, as well as for related supervisory deficiencies that took place for more than two years.

FINRA said that Monex Chief Compliance Officer and President Jorge Martin Ramos Landero executed an agreement for the firm with its parent company in Mexico that allowed employees to conduct securities business for Monex. The individuals were paid compensation for their work, which included collecting client data for opening accounts, transmitting orders, and making investment recommendations. However, these persons were not registered with FINRA.

Under the regulator’s rules, an associated individual who works in the securities business or investment banking has to be registered with the SRO under the right registration category. This person must also pass a qualification exam.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LTD LLP is a securities fraud law firm.

Merrill to pay $400,000 over telemarketing compliance shortfall, Investment News, December 30, 2014

Federal Court Orders North Carolina Resident Edwin A. Vasquez and His Company, Vasquez Global Investments, LLC, to Pay over $1.3 Million for Commodity Pool Fraud, CFTC, December 30, 2014

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