Enforcement actions

The IRS has issued a preliminary determination that educational and general revenue bonds issued in 2018 by the University of Rhode Island are taxable due to alleged noncompliance with requirements of Section 149(g).

Knoxville, Tennessee-based Home Financial Services failed to disclose execution time, mark ups and mark downs to customers on municipal securities transactions, FINRA said.

FINRA has charged Crews and Associates $50,000 and its former head trader and CEO $30,000 for selling municipal bonds with markups and for failing to maintain a supervisory system.

Without admitting or denying the findings, Blaylock Van consented to FINRA's findings that it failed to establish and maintain written supervisory procedures.

FINRA accused the firm of negligently misrepresenting monthly account statements.

Broker and investment advisor Wayne von Borstel has been suspended by FINRA for 15 business days for violating MSRB Rule G-8 on recordkeeping

The Securities and Exchange Commission has sustained the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s disciplinary action against J.W. Korth & Company.

Montebello Unified priced a $12.2 million tax-exempt refunding, but didn't execute a planned taxable tranche.

FINRA found that RBC’s supervisory system did not flag recommendations that resulted in potentially unsuitable concentrations of high-yield bonds in certain customer accounts.

The change of plea hearing is set for Thursday in a federal court in Mississippi.

A federal judge signed off on sanctions against IFS Securities Inc.'s former head trader for allegedly pocketing phony commissions and unauthorized trades that bankrupted the firm.

FINRA said the firm failed to detect and resolve short positions in municipal securities

Keith A. Wakefield's alleged unauthorized and speculative trading at the former IFS Securities Inc. and his attempts to cover it up drew charges Thursday from the SEC and U.S. Attorney's office.

A firm and its two principals have been charged for an improper fee-splitting arrangement under the relatively new regulatory regime for municipal advisors.

The settled proceeding against Anthony Falsetta, announced Tuesday, is the latest in a string of SEC cases targeting violations of retail order periods.

Alleged supervisory failures led to unsuitable trading patterns of Puerto Rico and other bonds, FINRA found.

FINRA arbitrators ordered the wealth manager and closed-end funds manager to pay damages as it resolves outstanding claims stemming from the island’s fiscal crisis.

Other detention centers and prisons operating near the U.S.-Mexico border have undergone similar IRS audits the last couple of years in which issuers have agreed to convert their bonds from tax-exempt to taxable.

Jeffrey Fladell, who retired from RBC Capital Markets in 2017, agreed to pay that fine while neither admitting nor denying FINRA's charges.

Robbi Jones, principal at Kipling Jones & Co., received that ruling on appeal from FINRA’s National Adjudicatory Council late last month.