SEC Charges Brokerage Firm With AML Violations

The SEC charged Utah-based brokerage firm Alpine Securities Corporation ("Alpine") with (i) neglecting repeatedly to file Suspicious Activity Reports ("SARs") with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN") concerning suspicious transactions and (ii) filing incomplete SARs concerning other transactions that were identified as suspicious. The Bank Secrecy Act requires firms to submit SARs to FinCEN when suspicious transactional activity is identified. The SEC found that Alpine had in fact developed an anti-money laundering compliance program, but failed to act in accordance with many of the program's provisions by neglecting repeatedly to follow proper SAR-filing procedures, particularly in connection with clearing transactions in penny stocks.