Barclays PLC will pay more than $15.5 million in remediation, plus a $1 million penalty, to settle allegations brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it failed to supervise two traders who charged undisclosed, excessive markups on retail mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) transactions.
The SEC alleges that traders Yoon Seok Lee and David Wong made false and misleading statements to Barclays customers and charged excessive markups on certain trades.
Lee and Wong, as well as Barclays, settled without admitting or denying the SEC’s charges. Lee will pay a penalty of $200,000, while Wong will pay $125,000; plus, they are suspended from associating with broker-dealers, investment advisors and municipal securities dealers, as well as prohibited from serving as officers or directors for one year.
The SEC acknowledged that Barclays had undertaken remedial acts to prevent and detect future misconduct.
For more details on how the alleged improprieties unfolded, as well as a breakdown of the penalties, click here.