Coastal Equities fined $15,000.
In June 2017, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced that Coastal Equities Inc. of Wilmington, Delaware, submitted an acceptance, waiver and consent letter, or AWC, regarding its failure to supervise firm sales of non-traditional ETFs, or exchange-traded funds. The firm was censured and fined $15,000.
FINRA’s allegations against Coastal Equities Inc. concerned the firm’s lack of controls and oversight in the sale of multiple types of exchange-traded funds. ETFs are liquid, and are traded like stock on the exchange. Coastal Equities Inc. is supposed to have procedures in place to require that every new product offered and sold is understood by their brokers. According to FINRA, Coastal Equities failed to implement and enforce such written procedures.