Raymond James & Associates has 106 Regulatory Events and 69 Arbitrations. Raymond James was censured and ordered to pay more than $4,489,000 to customers because it disadvantaged certain customers who could have avoided front end sales charges in certain mutual funds, but did not. Instead, Raymond James sold the customers shares with a front-end sales charge or with higher ongoing or back-end sales charges. Raymond James failed to establish and maintain an adequate supervisory system and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that customers who purchased mutual fund shares received the benefit of possible sales charge waivers. Raymond James failed to adopt any controls to detect instances when the firm failed to provide sale charge waivers, costing the customers a large sum. (July 2015 Finra 201504430901)

Raymond James was censured and fined $500,000 for violations of the US Securities and Exchanges laws, by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Raymond James willfully violated the antifraud provisions of the Federal securities laws in connection with the underwriting of certain municipal securities offerings. Raymond James conducted inadequate due diligence and failed to forma reasonable basis for believing the truthfulness of certain materially misleading disclosure documents. (June 2015 SEC 3-16631)

Raymond James was censured and fined $27,500 for violation of Finra Rules in selling and buying corporate bonds with customers at prices that were not fair. The Raymond James pricing on the bonds was not fair, because it did not take into account all relevant circumstances, including market conditions with respect to to each bond at the time of the transaction, the expense involved, and other factors. Raymond James did not have a supervisory system that reasonably achieved compliance with applicable securities laws, regulations and Finra rules. (April, 2013 2009017412501).

Raymond James was censured and fined $1,000,000 for aiding and abetting a person not registered as a stockbroker, who had been banned as a stockbroker, from performing duties that require registrations. Raymond James permitted the person to regularly engage in these activities. Raymond James further compensated finders in connection with stock loan transactions when those finders had not performed any services in connection with the transactions. Raymond failed to reasonably supervise or control certain of its business activities, or provide for appropriate procedures of supervision and control, follow-up and review, and failed to keep accurate records. Raymond James violated the Securities Exchange Act and Finra regulatory rules. (September 2008 2007009525901).

Raymond James was fined $750,000 for violating regulatory rules, using exiting procedures for review of account opening documents and transactions, without the required supervisory system, including written procedures, specifically designed to review and monitor their fee-based business. Raymond James never conducted an initial or periodic supervisory review of the accounts to determine whether such accounts were appropriate for particular customers. Raymond James failed to provide their stockbroker with any criteria or guidance to determine whether a fee-based brokerage account was appropriate for their customers, and used sales literature that failed to comply with regulator’s advertising rules. (CE3050007)