Charles Schwab on July 2 agreed to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission a civil penalty of $2.8 million for failing to file suspicious activity reports on questionable transactions by its investment advisers. It did not confirm or deny the SEC’s findings.
The consent agreement came in response to the SEC after the agency filed a complaint that same day in the District Court for the Northern District of California against Schwab for failing to file the SARs (suspicious activity reports). Under the Bank Secrecy Act, investment advisers must file SARs for transactions of at least $5,000 where they know or have reason to believe that the transaction (i) involves funds derived from illegal activity, (ii) was designed to evade BSA requirements, (iii) had no business or lawful purpose, or (iv) facilitated criminal activity.
