Friday, December 14, 2007

FINRA Fines J. P. Morgan Securities $500,000

FINRA fined J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc. $500,000 for failing to disclose to the MSRB that it had used consultants to obtain numerous municipal securities offerings and had made payments to consultants connected to particular offerings. According to the FINRA press release, the firm did not simply fail to dislose, it affirmatively stated that it did not use consultants, and that it made no payments to consultants.

That is not a failure to dislose, that is an affirmative mistatement. And JP Morgan gets a $500,000 fine?

A small firm would have been put out of business, with its principals barred.