FINRA fines RBC Capital Markets $275,000 over AML compliance failures | LeapRate
FINRA has censured and fined RBC Capital Markets, LLC $275,000 after finding that the firm failed to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering compliance program for more than seven years.
According to a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent published by FINRA, RBC’s Wealth Management division did not properly implement policies and procedures capable of detecting and reporting suspicious transactions between February 2016 and September 2023, in breach of FINRA Rules 3310(a), 3310(f)(ii) and 2010.
The regulator found that RBC introduced three new transaction monitoring rules in February 2016 designed to flag suspicious money movements but configured them so poorly that they largely failed to work as intended. One rule meant to catch accounts moving funds without securities trading activity was based on margin balances rather than account balances, meaning it rarely triggered. Another rule set credit thresholds too high to catch matching debit and credit patterns, while a third generated excessive false positives from routine internal transfers.
FINRA said RBC split oversight of these monitoring rules between two internal groups without establishing a process for coordination or escalation, allowing the flawed rules to remain in place for years without correction.
RBC neither admitted nor denied the findings but agreed to the sanctions. The firm updated its procedures in September 2023 to require periodic reviews of automated monitoring rules.
Founded in 1993 and headquartered in New York, RBC Capital Markets currently employs roughly 6,500 registered representatives across 400 branch offices.
The case stemmed from a routine FINRA cycle examination rather than a specific enforcement referral.
