NASD Fines 26 Brokers $9.2M for Withholding Info

The NASD has come down on 29 broker/dealers for more than 8,000 instances of failing to disclose reportable information to customers. The firms have neither admitted to nor denied allegations, but consented to the entry of the findings. Reportable information includes customer complaints, regulatory actions, criminal charges and convictions.

Most such events must be reported for inclusion on NASD's Central Registration Depository (CRD) within 30 days, although more serious events must be reported within 10 days. The CRD is available to the public through NASD's BrokerCheck, and more than 2.8 million investors have looked into brokers' histories through the service.

"Investors, regulators and others rely heavily on the integrity of the information in the CRD public reporting system, and, in turn, the integrity of that system depends on accurate and prompt reporting by firms," said Mary L. Schapiro, vice chairman of NASD. "The fact that so many firms failed to report so much important information is deeply troubling. These firms and others will understand from the severity of the fines that timely reporting of broker information cannot be ignored."

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