Interactive Brokers, Fifth Third among firms charged for recordkeeping failures

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against five broker-dealers, three dually registered broker-dealers and investment advisers, and two affiliated investment advisers for widespread and longstanding failures to maintain and preserve electronic communications. The firms admitted the facts set forth in their respective SEC orders and acknowledged that their conduct violated recordkeeping provisions of the federal securities laws. The firms agreed to pay combined penalties of $79M and have begun implementing improvements to their compliance policies and procedures to address these violations, the SEC stated. The 10 firms named include Interactive Brokers Corp. and affiliate Interactive Brokers LLC, which agreed to pay a $35M penalty; Robert W. Baird & Co., which agreed to pay a $15M penalty; William Blair & Company and affiliate William Blair Investment Management, which agreed to pay a $10M penalty; Nuveen Securities, which agreed to pay an $8.5M penalty; Fifth Third Securities, which agreed to pay an $8M penalty; and Perella Weinberg Partners, together with Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Securities and Perella Weinberg Partners Capital Management, which self-reported and agreed to pay a $2.5M penalty.