By Katanga Johnson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Monday that Cantor Fitzgerald agreed to pay $3.2 million to settle charges it provided inaccurate and incomplete "blue sheet data" on securities trading.
The firm admitted to the findings in paying the fine and taking remedial actions, the SEC said.
The top markets watchdog said in its order that staff at the firm "willfully" made submissions that contained missing or inaccurate data for approximately 35 million transactions, "largely due to inadequate processes designed to validate the accuracy of its submissions and undetected coding errors."
Broker dealers are required to provide the SEC with blue sheet data, which contain trading and account holder information, so the agency can analyze a firm's trading activity. It also helps inform the agency's enforcement and regulatory obligations, including investigations of insider trading.
"The SEC depends on broker-dealers to provide it with complete and accurate trade data,” said Kelly Gibson, who leads the SEC's Philadelphia Regional Office.
"When they fail to meet that obligation, it hinders our ability to detect wrongdoing and protect investors."
The SEC's order also found that Cantor Fitzgerald engaged in remedial efforts to address the cause of its deficient submissions, including the retention of an outside consultant and the adoption of new procedures for processing blue sheet requests.