Hah!..Check this out..the fine is a joke..the MMM actions are a travesty...IMHO. Oh, sure, the MMMs are out for our own good...and SO honest..in a pig's eye.
NASD Regulation Fines Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. $97,000 For Limit Order, Best Execution, and Other Violations
/FROM PR NEWSWIRE WASHINGTON DC 202-347-5155/
TO BUSINESS EDITOR:
NASD Regulation Fines Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. $97,000
For Limit Order, Best Execution, and Other Violations
WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- NASD Regulation, Inc., announced today
that it has censured and fined Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.,
$97,000 for rule violations that were discovered by NASD Regulation's Market
Regulation Department through a combination of its automated surveillance
systems and the onsite examination program. NASD Regulation determined that,
from November 1997 to December 1999, Merrill Lynch on occasion violated the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Limit Order Display Rule, as well as
NASD rules pertaining to best execution, short sales, locked and crossed
markets, and trade reporting. NASD Regulation also found that Merrill Lynch
failed to have a reasonably designed supervisory system in place with respect
to the correct reporting of short sales to the Automated Confirmation
Transaction Service(S) (ACT)(SM) and in 1997, with respect to best execution,
the SEC Order Handling Rules, and ACT compliance. In settling this matter,
Merrill Lynch neither admitted nor denied NASD Regulation's findings.
In its review, NASD Regulation found that Merrill Lynch failed to comply
with the SEC Limit Order Display Rule in connection with 41 customer limit
orders. Customers place limit orders to trade securities at a specific price.
The SEC Limit Order Display Rule requires the immediate display of customer
limit order prices, if they improve on the market maker's quotation. The
Market Regulation Department also found that between 1997 and 1999 Merrill
Lynch failed to provide best execution for 70 customer orders, and under NASD
rules for best execution, members must execute customer orders at prices that
are as favorable as possible under prevailing market conditions.
In another area, the NASD Regulation probe found that Merrill Lynch failed
to comply with the NASD's rule for locked and crossed markets. A locked
market occurs when the inside bid price equals the inside offer price in the
same security, and a crossed market occurs when the inside bid is greater than
the inside offer price of a security. NASD rules require that, before
entering a quote during the trading day that will lock or cross the market in
a Nasdaq security, a market maker must make reasonable efforts to avoid such a
locked or crossed market by executing transactions with all market makers
whose quotations would be locked or crossed. According to its review, the
Market Regulation Department found that, in 73 instances, Merrill Lynch did
not make reasonable efforts to avoid locked and crossed markets.
The NASD Regulation Market Regulation Department also determined that
Merrill Lynch engaged in a pattern of late transaction reporting into the ACT
system without exceptional circumstances. The ACT system is a Nasdaq system
that members use to report transactions and assist in the clearance of
transactions. Further, the NASD Regulation review found that the firm's
supervisory system to ensure the correct reporting of short sales to ACT was
inadequate.
In settling the matter, NASD Regulation took note that Merrill Lynch has
taken steps to develop and implement highly automated systems to address best
execution and short sale issues.
In the past two years, NASD Regulation has brought approximately 60 cases
for limit order display violations. Today's action was brought by NASD
Regulation's Market Regulation Department. The Market Regulation Department's
Trading and Market Making Surveillance Examination Program (TMMS), Short Sale
Compliance Section, and Trading Practices Section conducted the reviews which
led to the initiation of this disciplinary action.
Investors can obtain the disciplinary record of any NASD-registered broker
or brokerage firm by calling 800-289-9999, or by sending an e-mail through
NASD Regulation's Web Site nasdr.com . For more information on
NASD Regulation, visit the Web Site.
NASD Regulation oversees all U.S. stockbrokers and brokerage firms. NASD
Regulation, The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc.(R), The American Stock Exchange(R),
and NASD Dispute Resolution, Inc. are subsidiaries of the National Association
of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD)(R), the largest securities-industry self-
regulatory organization in the United States.
SOURCE NASD Regulation, Inc.
/CONTACT: Nancy A. Condon, 202-728-8379, or Steve Luparello,240-386-5060, both
of NASD Regulation, Inc./
/Web site: nasdr.comhttp://www.nasd.com/ |
