SEC accuses FINRA of altering internal documents

http://ow.ly/7bQdi

An article on the Reuters website at reuters.com written by Sarah N. Lynch and Suzanne Barlyn

This article discusses an incident in which the SEC claims that FINRA altered documents prior to turning them over to the SEC.

The article states, "The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission scolded the self-policing brokerage industry group FINRA on Thursday for allegedly doctoring internal documents before handing them over to examiners.

The SEC said a regional office of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in 2008 altered staff meeting documents just hours before handing them over to SEC inspection staff."

According to the article this is the 3rd incident in 8 years where the SEC has alleged that FINRA altered records.  The article states that fines against FINRA and suspension of personnel are likely.

According to the article, "The embarrassing incident comes as FINRA, which has been criticized for having opaque governance, is trying to convince the SEC and Congress to expand its oversight authority to include investment advisers."