Trident Partners - Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce

Oct 23, 2017

Trident Partners Fined by FINRA for Failure to Supervise Steepener Sales

Trident Partners Ltd. has submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) in which it has been censured and fined $50,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for failing to adequately supervise the sales and suitability of steepeners, a complex, structured product. Trident Partners, headquartered in Woodbury, New York, was found by FINRA to have failed to establish, maintain, and enforce a supervisory system to ensure that recommendations for its sale of steepeners were suitable. Steepeners are complex, structured products that are typically longer-term notes and certificates of deposit with maturities spanning from 10-30 years. They are typically callable by the issuers after a short, pre-specified time. They pay higher interest rates, but if the steepener is not called after a year, the rates can drop to as low as zero, earning no returns for the remainder of the term. FINRA found that during the relevant period, steepeners were a significant part of Trident Partners’ business, with approximately 1,600 transactions and accounting for at least 10% of commissions generated.

Brokerage Firm Chief Compliance Officer Charged With Fraud and Money Laundering

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), William Quigley, a former chief compliance officer at New York-based Trident Partners Ltd., was charged with fraud and money laundering for diverting money from overseas investors to family members in the Philippines. William Michael Quigley, of Seaford New York, faces both criminal and civil charges. The SEC claims that Mr. Quigley convinced foreign investors to invest in well-known U.S companies and start-ups which were on the brink of going public. Instead of investing the customers’ funds, however, Mr. Quigley diverted the funds for his and his brother’s personal use. This scheme was allegedly perpetrated by sending investors fake account statements using a fictitious firm name for more than 10 years.