Boston (Aug. 4, 2004) — In one of the largest fines ever levied by the New York Stock Exchange, the brokerage unit at financial services conglomerate Fidelity Investments agreed to pay $2 million in fines to settle long-running accusations of employees altering documents.
Under the terms of the settlement, Fidelity Brokerage Service LLC will pay $1 million each to both the NYSE and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC said Fidelity violated the SEC's record-keeping requirements and "failed reasonably to supervise employees" between January 2001 and July 2002.
The SEC said that, "As a consequence, in connection with certain inspections, a number of branch-office employees altered or destroyed certain documents. At least 62 employees had engaged in some form of this conduct in at least 21 branch offices, primarily in its western region."
— WebCPA staff
