LPL Nears $50M SEC Settlement Over Messaging App Use

In February, the SEC charged five broker-dealers, seven dually registered broker-dealers and investment advisors, and four affiliated investment advisors for widespread and longstanding failures by the firms and their employees to maintain and preserve electronic communications, including WhatsApp messages and texts.

The 16 firms agreed to pay combined civil penalties of more than $81 million.

LPL — which had 22,884 advisors and $1.44 trillion of client assets on its platforms as of March 31 — reported first-quarter revenue of $2.8 billion, up 7% from a year ago, and profits of $288.8 million, a jump of 33% from the first quarter of 2023.

The firm said in February that it was buying Atria Wealth Solutions, which works with 2,400 advisors, 150 banks and credit unions, and $100 billion of assets, for $805 million.

–Melanie Waddell contributed to this report.