FINRA Slaps $3.25m Fine on Deutsche Bank Securities for ATS Violations

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the largest independent regulatory authority in the US, has given a $3.25 million fine to Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., after the group failed to give uniform information to clients of its Alternative Trading System (ATS), per a FINRA filing.

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An ATS constitutes a trading venue that executes securities trades on behalf of broker-dealers. However, it is in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Regulation Regulation Like any other industry with a high net worth, the financial services industry is tightly regulated to help curb illicit behavior and manipulation. Each asset class has its own set of protocols put in place to combat their respective forms of abuse.In the foreign exchange space, regulation is assumed by authorities in multiple jurisdictions, though ultimately lacking a binding international order. Who are the Industry’s Leading Regulators?Regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ( Like any other industry with a high net worth, the financial services industry is tightly regulated to help curb illicit behavior and manipulation. Each asset class has its own set of protocols put in place to combat their respective forms of abuse.In the foreign exchange space, regulation is assumed by authorities in multiple jurisdictions, though ultimately lacking a binding international order. Who are the Industry’s Leading Regulators?Regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ( Read this Term that ATS operators provide “identical access to all services and features”. For its part, Deutsche Bank Securities failed to comply with this, prompting a fine from the regulator.

In particular, Deutsche Bank Securities did not adequately disclose to its clients the availability of certain ATS services and features – this entailed the ability to include or exclude counterparties or groups of counterparties against whom orders would execute, which was flagged by FINRA.

No Evidence of Inappropriate Sharing

Consequently, a number of ATS clients, including some high-frequency trading (HFT) firms, had requested and received select services that others may not have known were available, which was in direct violation of the SEC mandate. While the nature of this sharing was not inappropriate, nor confidential information, the issue stemmed from the fact that not all users were given identical access to all services offered by the ATS.

As such, FINRA has hit Deutsche Bank Securities with a $3.25 million fine. The group has agreed to settle, however it neither admitted nor denied the charges despite consenting with the order.

According to Thomas Gira, Executive Vice President of FINRA’s Market Regulation Department, in a recent statement on the fine: “ATSs are significant and important trading venues in today’s equity marketplace. Broker-dealers that operate an ATS must provide complete and accurate information to their customers regarding access to the ATS’s services and features to ensure that customers using the Trading Platform Trading Platform In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real Read this Term are not disadvantaged.”