FINRA Fines Thrivent Investment Management $325K for Signature Forgeries, Falsifications
Thrivent Investment Management Inc., a Fortune 500 diversified financial services organization, has agreed to pay a fine of $325,000 as a part of a settlement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
According to FINRA, from July 2017 onwards, Thrivent failed to establish and maintain a supervisory system capable of detecting instances of signature forgery or falsification. This oversight allowed at least 15 of the firm’s registered representatives to electronically sign customer names on more than 260 documents.
FINRA also stated that because Thrivent’s supervisory procedures did not adequately address the use of electronic signatures or provide clear guidance to supervisors on identifying potential forgeries or falsifications, the firm did not investigate potential red flags, including instances where representatives sent documents to their own email addresses or used their own phone numbers for authentication codes.
Despite the violations, FINRA clarified that the falsifications and forgeries were not carried out to facilitate unauthorized activities, and no customer harm or complaints were reported. Nevertheless, Thrivent’s actions were deemed to have violated several FINRA rules, including Rule 3110, which mandates firms to establish and maintain a supervisory system to ensure compliance with securities laws and regulations.
In addition to the fine, Thrivent has agreed to a censure and to undertake remedial measures. Within 120 days, a senior management member of the firm, must certify that Thrivent has addressed the identified issues and implemented a robust supervisory system, including written procedures, to prevent similar violations in the future.
Thrivent did not admit nor deny the allegations.
Thrivent is headquartered in Minneapolis. The firm conducts a general securities business and has approximately 3,700 registered individuals and 1,300 branch offices. Thrivent has been a FINRA member since 1987. The company reported $179 billion assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2023.
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