FINRA suspended BMA Securities President and owner Burt Martin Arnold of El Segundo, California for a series of compliance failures sustained by BMA while Arnold served in various compliance capacities.
The investigation states that as Chief Compliance Officer, Arnold failed to establish, maintain and implement adequate and reasonable supervisory systems, including written supervisory procedures to comply with industry regulations, such as the Securities Act of 1933.
FINRA also charged Arnold with failing to establish an adequate anti-money laundering (AML) program, accusing him of failing to investigate a series of red flags that suggested suspicious activity.
The report specifically references several "criminal or disciplinary histories that should have led to closer scrutiny, but did not." Regulators referenced further red flags tied to certain transactions of importance, such as penny stocks, bearer bonds and other securities that have historically been used "in conjunction with fraudulent schemes and money laundering activity."
Penny stocks, for instance, caught the radar of both FINRA and the SEC, who issued a joint November 2014 investment alert warning investors of certain fraudulent penny stocks being aggressively promoted.
If you have invested with Burt Martin Arnold, BMA Securities or with any broker or financial adviser whose failure to investigate suspicious transactions or securities, or whose lack of supervisory and other protective procedures and policies has proven harmful to your investments or interests, please call The Law Offices of Jonathan W. Evans & Associates at (800) 699-1881 for investigation and consultation.