Penalties and fines

A recent court case demonstrates how the criminal liability has dramatically increased, even in the absence of a monetary benefit for the tipper.

Morgan Stanley, a previous employer, won $243,000 in an earlier arbitration case.

The arbitration award comes a month after the wirehouse had to pay a similar amount to clients stemming from the sale of debt from the island commonwealth.

Citigroup Global Markets paid a $1 million penalty to New York State for overcharging more than 47,000 customers. It will also reimburse the customers.

The regulator said "significant deficiencies" affected hundreds of millions of records.

The firm was accused of using transactions with an affiliate to reduce the amount it was required to keep in its customer reserve account.

Millions in clients' funds was steered into a sports ticketing business.

The problem began when a hyperlink was missing from where clients were accustomed to reviewing their transactions online.

Though against the firm's policy, the wirehouse still permitted the purchase of securities with credit lines "on thousands of occasions" during a four-year period, according to the regulator.

The regulator, in a proposed final judgement, wants the former planner held liable for $123,000 spent on golf outings, shopping and cruises.

The firm was fined $1.57 million and must pay clients another $1.85 million for related infractions, the regulator said.

Wirehouse system and supervisory failures are just the start.

One of the sanctioned advisers has 26 disclosure events listed on his FINRA BrokerCheck record while remaining in good standing with Ameriprise.

The wirehouse agrees to pay a $2.8 million fine after the regulator discovers the bad reporting went on for years.

Paul T. Lebel excessively traded shares that carried large front-end loads and "willfully disregarded the customers' interest," the agency said.

The former RIA and fund advisor was cited for multiple fiduciary violations in a day-trading scheme, pocketing profitable trades from a pooled account while burdening clients with the losses.

The first-ever case of its kind is putting other broker-dealers on notice about the regulator's enhanced abilities to identify patterns of abuse.

The SEC's allegations against David Paterson were tied to a proposal to build the largest movie studio in North America.

FINRA cracks down after $1.3M theft from 89-year-old client.