Dominick & Dominick LLC, a brokerage firm headquartered in New York, New York, was censured and fined $20,000.00 by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) based upon consenting to findings that the firm, inter alia, charged excessive commissions to customers. Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, No. 2014041218901 (Apr. 7, 2017).
According to the AWC, between November of 2011 and March of 2014, the firm had supervisory protocols and procedures which restricted customers from being charged commissions exceeding five percent per transaction, or in certain circumstances, commissions exceeding a transaction charge of $100.00. The AWC stated that the firm failed to abide by its own procedures. Particularly, Dominick & Dominick did not create exception reports which were meant to identify when commissions were assessed on trades in excess of the firm’s maximum allowable amount.
Apparently, one-hundred and forty-three of the firm’s customer accounts had been assessed fees which were above the five percent maximum; and sixty-one customer accounts were assessed fees which exceeded a transaction charge of $100.00. Another thirty-two customer accounts reportedly contained some transactions which were exposed to excessive charges. More specifically, commissions ranging from $5.00 to $1,943.00 were assessed per trade in the affected customer accounts.
The AWC revealed that the firm overcharged customers a total of $17,425.00 in connection with four-hundred and twenty trades which the firm effected in customer accounts. Consequently, FINRA found that Dominick & Dominick’s conduct was violative of FINRA Rule 2010, NASD Rule 3010(a), as well as NASD Rules 2440, IM-2440-1 and IM-2440-2.
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