Enforcement Actions
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
CASES OF NOTE
2011
NOTE: Stipulations of Fact and Consent to Penalty (SFC); Offers of Settlement (OS); and Letters of Acceptance Waiver, and Consent (AWC) are entered into by Respondents without admitting or denying the allegations, but consent is given to the described sanctions & to the entry of findings. Additionally, for AWCs, if FINRA has reason to believe a violation has occurred and the member or associated person does not dispute the violation, FINRA may prepare and request that the member or associated person execute a letter accepting a finding of violation, consenting to the imposition of sanctions, and agreeing to waive such member's or associated person's right to a hearing before a hearing panel, and any right of appeal to the National Adjudicatory Council, the SEC, and the courts, or to otherwise challenge the validity of the letter, if the letter is accepted. The letter shall describe the act or practice engaged in or omitted, the rule, regulation, or statutory provision violated, and the sanction or sanctions to be imposed.
Bulltick, LLC, Javier Guerra (Principal) and Victor Manuel Robles (Principal)
AWC/2006006958101

The Firm made certain unsecured loans to its parent that exceeded the parameters set forth in SEC Rules 15c3-1(e)(1)(i) and (ii), thereby triggering its reporting obligation. Through its financial and operations principals (FINOPs), Guerra and Robles, the Firm provided notices to FINRA at the beginning of several months of loans that it anticipated making during the course of the month, but the notices did not comply with the requirements of SEC Rule 15c3-1(e)(1); the firm did not provide adequate advance notice of loans that exceeded the 30 percent threshold on numerous occasions and did not provide subsequent notice of unsecured loans that exceeded the 20 percent threshold on other occasions. Guerra and Robles, as FINOPS at the firm, were responsible for providing the required notices on the firm’s behalf but failed to do so.

The Firm had inadequate excess net capital for a year because it failed to include in its net capital calculation certain positions in Latin American and other debt securities held in firm accounts at its clearing firms, and did not report these positions as assets on its balance sheet or apply haircuts to these positions in its computation of net capital; deficiencies ranged from at least $900,000 to at least $13.7 million and all of the positions relevant to the net capital deficiency had later either paid down their principal or were sold by the firm.

The firm engaged in securities transactions in which commissions were split between the firm and a nonregistered foreign person with the person receiving most of the commissions and the firm getting the balance. In addition to making the initial referrals, the non-registered foreign person, along with the firm, among other things, negotiated the terms of the transactions, which the firm executed. The firm did not properly reflect the payment to the finder on its books and records, and also did not disclose the compensation arrangement as required.

Moreover, the Firm did not maintain adequate books and records concerning proprietary positions the firm held at separate clearing firms for over a year; this included failing to reflect the positions on any of the firm’s internal books and records, failing to maintain documents related to the processing of the transactions such as the electronic or paper order tickets and the trade confirmations, failing to maintain documents related to the supervision of the transactions, and failing to appropriately reflect its liabilities and assets on financial documentation the firm maintained. Furthermore, although FINRA staff advised the firm that its procedures related to SEC Rule 15c3-1(e) were not reasonably designed to achieve compliance with that rule and needed to be amended, the firm failed to amend its procedures to establish supervisory procedures reasonably designed to ensure compliance with the rule.

Guerra engaged in outside investment activities through a limited liability company that used his firm’s address, and he failed to provide prompt written notice of these business activities to his member firm.

Bulltick, LLC: Censured and Fined $300,000

Javier Guerra (Principal): Fined $20,000; Suspended 10 business days 

Victor Manuel Robles (Principal): Fined $10,000; Suspended 5 business days 

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