WASHINGTON (AP) — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Monday that Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. will have to pay $921,000 in fines and restitution for charging customers unfair prices for municipal securities transactions.
The industry watchdog said that Oppenheimer, through its head municipal securities trader, David Sirianni, overcharged a number of customers in 2008 and 2009. FINRA said that it priced 89 customer transactions from 5.01 percent to 15.57 percent above the firm's contemporaneous cost, which is generally considered market price.
FINRA said that Sirianni bought municipal securities from a broker-dealer on Oppenheimer's behalf, held the bonds in inventory for at least overnight, and then made the bonds available for resale at an unfair price to the firm's customers. Sirianni was responsible for determining the prices paid by customers in the 89 transactions, FINRA said.
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