(Reuters) - More Wall Street firms have agreed to pay a combined $100 million to settle charges from U.S. regulators that they violated regulations by failing to prevent the use of personal devices, text messaging and apps like WhatsApp for business.
The firms, which include Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Invesco Distributors and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce , violated record-keeping for broker-dealers or others registered with the agencies, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in separate statements.
They are the latest of the banks and finance firms to get hit with fines for not cracking down on employees' use of personal devices and apps, part of a multi-year initiative by the SEC and CFTC launched in 2021.
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce agreed to pay $30 million to the CFTC and two other units, CIBC World Markets and CIBC Private Wealth Advisors will pay another $12 million to the SEC.
CIBC said in a statement the bank offered full cooperation to both regulators and took immediate steps to remediate the issues.
"Widespread and longstanding failures, including where those failures potentially hinder the Commission's investor protection function by compromising a firm's response to SEC subpoenas, may result in robust civil penalties," the SEC's enforcement director Gurbir Grewal said in a statement, noting that one company, Qatalyst Partners LP, would pay no penalty due to its "substantial" steps to report the issue and remediate.
The other firms who agreed to penalties are:
Stifel, Nicolaus & Company to pay $35 million to SEC
Invesco units to pay a $35 million to SEC
Glazer Capital, LLC to pay $2 million to SEC
Intesa Sanpaolo IMI Securities Corp. to pay $1.5 million to SEC
Canaccord Genuity LLC to pay $1.25 million to SEC
Regions Securities LLC to pay $750,000 to SEC
Alpaca Securities LLC to pay $400,000 to SEC
Focused Wealth Management, Inc. to pay $325,000 penalty
Reporting by Douglas Gillison and Chris Prentice
Editing by Marguerita Choy
