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.
Recommended For You
The regulatory organization fined Oppenheimer $675,000 for charging unfair prices in municipal securities transactions and for failing to have an adequate supervisory system to detect the problem. It also ordered Oppenheimer to pay more than $246,000 in restitution, plus interest, to customers who were charged unfair prices.
FINRA also fined Sirianni $100,000 and suspended him for 60 days.
Oppenheimer and Sirianni have neither admitted to nor denied the charges but consented to the entry of FINRA's findings. The company said in a statement that it is pleased the matter, which related to a small number of trades, has been resolved. It also said that it has reviewed, and where necessary, updated its processes to make sure customers get a fair price.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
