A Chicago-based broker-dealer agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly failing to file nearly 500 suspicious activity reports (SARs) largely related to microcap or penny stock securities transactions.
Archipelago Trading Services operates an over-the-counter (OTC) alternative trading system (ATS) for equity securities used by broker-dealers to execute trades. The SEC faulted the firm for not properly supervising high-risk securities transactions it executed daily over an eight-year span, the agency said in a press release Tuesday.
