Goldman Sachs & Co. has settled charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for neglecting to supply comprehensive and precise securities trading details, otherwise known as blue sheet data. The prominent financial institution has consented to a penalty of $6m to conclude the SEC’s allegations.
The SEC has detailed that for almost a decade, Goldman presented over 22,000 insufficient blue sheet submissions. Due to 43 varied mistakes, these submissions were devoid of or displayed incorrect transaction data for a minimum of 163 million deals. The SEC’s findings also highlighted Goldman’s insufficient systems to confirm the correctness of its electronic blue sheet data.
SEC’s Associate Regional Director in the New York Regional Office, Thomas P. Smith Jr. commented, “Firms must provide complete and accurate blue sheet data in response to our requests. Blue sheet data is vital to the Commission’s ability to carry out its enforcement and regulatory functions and to protect investors and maintain market integrity.”
In response to the allegations, Goldman acknowledged the violations of the broker-dealer recordkeeping and reporting rules of the federal securities regulations. The institution not only admitted to the SEC’s discoveries but also agreed to the censure and the penalty sum of $6m. Furthermore, the SEC appreciated Goldman’s efforts to amend and refine its blue sheet data reporting systems. These efforts comprised a comprehensive examination of its reporting scheme, which led to the self-disclosure of 29 out of the 43 mistakes pinpointed in the order and significant supervisory control improvements.
In a parallel development, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has come to a settlement agreement with Goldman over related misbehaviours. The SEC’s probe was led by Zheng (Jane) He and Lindsay S. Moilanen from the New York Regional Office, under the guidance of Mr. Smith, with FINRA providing invaluable assistance.
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