FINRA’s newly revised Sanction Guidelines, effective immediately, signal that the upward trend in sanctions against broker-dealers is likely to continue.

The Sanction Guidelines, which establish the range of sanctions that FINRA may impose in formal disciplinary proceedings, affect several specific types of violations, as well as the principles behind levying sanctions and the overall levels of monetary sanctions. The Guidelines are also meant to catch up to the sanctions that FINRA actually is levying; as FINRA stated, in revising the guidelines, it is seeking to “harmonize the Sanction Guidelines with the current state of the cases in this area.”