Aegis Capital Investigated By FINRA, SEC, And FINCEN
Aegis Capital Corp., which is a mid-sized brokerage firm out of New York City and has 415 registered representatives, is currently under investigation from three regulators, according to a document filed by the SEC. These regulators include the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN).
The document filed by the SEC did not state why Aegis Capital was being investigated.
The firm’s most recent annual audited financial statement notes, “The company has provided responses to an inquiry and investigative proceeding brought jointly by FINRA, the SEC and FINCEN.” The financial statement covers December 1, 2015, to November 30, 2016. “The matter is in the discovery stage and no estimate of the effects of an adverse conclusion, if any, can be made as of the date of this financial statement.”
Aegis Capital opened for business in 1984, it currently has twenty-seven disclosures on its FINRA BrokerCheck report. In an August 2015 settlement with FINRA, the firm agreed to pay $950,000 after alleged improper sales of billions of shares of unregistered penny stocks and anti-money- laundering supervisory lapses. Two former chief compliance officers at the firm also were suspended and fined over the charges.
Nearly simultaneously, the firm’s president and CEO, Robert Eide, was suspended for fifteen days and fined $15,000 for failing to disclose more than $640,000 in outstanding liens.
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