Raymond James fined $17M for anti-money laundering lapses
WASHINGTON (AP) — Industry regulators have fined Raymond James $17 million, accusing the financial services firm of widespread failures in its controls against money laundering.
U.S. federal and other regulators have focused closely in recent years on money laundering, with billions of dollars in proceeds from drug trafficking, prostitution and other crimes being cycled through the financial system to obscure their origins.
In the new case, FINRA said the brokerage subsidiary Raymond James & Associates Inc. and the investment affiliate Raymond James Financial Services Inc. grew rapidly from 2006 to 2014 — but without providing adequate compliance systems and procedures to prevent money laundering to match the size of the businesses.