The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Stock Exchange today announced the initiation and settlement of enforcement actions against five NYSE specialist firms. The firms will pay a total of $241,823,257 in penalties and disgorgement, consisting of $87,735,635 in civil money penalties and $154,087,622 in disgorgement, and implement steps to improve their compliance procedures and systems. The five settling specialist firms are: Bear Wagner Specialists LLC; Fleet Specialist, Inc.; LaBranche & Co., LLC; Spear, Leeds & Kellogg Specialists LLC; and Van der Moolen Specialists USA, LLC.
In a joint investigation, the NYSE and SEC found that, between 1999 and 2003, the five firms...