The Securities and Exchange Commission fired another shot across the bow of the securities industry last month, and this time decided to use a new weapon in its arsenal.
A Los Angeles brokerage firm, Crowell, Weedon & Co., became the first company to be sanctioned by the SEC under the USA Patriot Act—yes, that Patriot Act, intended to crackdown on money-laundering and other activity that might support terrorism. The SEC cited Crowell Weedon for failing to document and enforce its customer identification program properly.
