Robert W. Baird & Co. Agrees to Pay $2.1 Million in Restitution to Mutual Fund Customers
Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. (Baird) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) to the Department of Enforcement of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for allegedly taking advantage of certain retirement plan and charitable organization customers that were eligible to purchase Class A shares in certain mutual funds without a front-end sales charge. Baird has been a FINRA member since 1971 and has over 140 branch offices throughout the U.S. In May 2015, Baird self-reported to FINRA that many eligible customers had not received available sales charge waivers. Baird estimated that since July 1, 2009, approximately 1,400 accounts purchased mutual fund shares for which an available sales charge waiver was not applied. Baird estimated that clients were overcharged approximately $1.8 million since July 2009 due to its supervisory failures.
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