WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) said Thursday that it has fined Morgan Stanley 1 million U.S. dollars and ordered 188,000 dollars in restitution plus interests for its failure to provide the best execution and a fair price in customer transactions.
FINRA, the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States, found that Morgan Stanley failed to ensure that the purchase or sale price to the customer was as favorable as possible under current market conditions in 116 customer transactions involving corporate and agency bonds.
The industry watchdog also found that in 165 transactions involving municipal bonds, Morgan Stanley failed to purchase or sell bonds at prices reasonably related to the fair market value.
"Firms must ensure that customers who buy and sell securities receive execution prices that are consistent with prices available in the marketplace," said Thomas Gira, executive vice president of FINRA Market Regulation.
Morgan Stanley neither admitted nor denied the charges, but consented to FINRA's findings.
FINRA, the successor to the National Association of Securities Dealers, acts as a private self-regulatory organization. It filed 1,541 disciplinary actions against registered individuals and firms in 2012, a strong support to the government in detecting fraudulent activities and implementing cross-market surveillance.
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