FINRA Hits BD With $250K Fine Over Emails, IMs

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined H2C Securities $250,000 for failing to preserve and review over 1.25 million business-related electronic communications on four platforms.

According to FINRA’s order, from at least January 2013 to June 2021, H2C Securities failed to preserve and review the electronic communications, the vast majority of which were mass marketing emails.

During this period, “the firm’s supervisory system, including written supervisory procedures, was not reasonably designed to achieve compliance with the firm’s obligation to capture, retain, and review communications sent or received using these electronic communication platforms,” FINRA’s order states.

The business-related electronic communications included internal and external emails, instant messages, mass marketing materials, and documents requiring customers’ electronic signatures.