FINRA Fines, Censures Raymond James & Associates, Inc., for Improper Handling of Fail-to-Deliver Positions

Raymond James & Associates, Inc. (CRD #705, St. Petersburg, Florida) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which the firm was censured and fined $45,000. See FINRA Case #2009017242101.

Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that it had fail-to-deliver positions at a registered clearing agency in an equity security that resulted from a long sale, and did not close the fail-to-deliver positions by purchasing securities of like kind and quantity within the time frame the SEC prescribed. The firm had a fail-to-deliver position at a registered clearing agency in an equity security that was attributable to market-making activities, and did not close the fail-to-deliver position by purchasing securities of like kind and quantity within the prescribed time frame.

The findings stated that in instances involving one equity security, the firm accepted a short sale order from another person, or effected a short sale for its own account, without first borrowing the security or entering into a bona fide arrangement to borrow the security, and had a fail-to-deliver position at a registered clearing agency in such security that had not been closed out in accordance with the requirements of paragraphs (a) and (b) of SEC Rule 204T.

The findings also stated that the firm had a fail-to-deliver position at a registered clearing agency in a threshold security for 13 consecutive settlement days, and failed to immediately thereafter close out the fail-to-deliver position by purchasing securities of like and quantity. The firm continued to have a fail-to-deliver position in the security for 19 settlement days while it was a threshold security, which it failed to close out when required.

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