Bad News for JP Turner & Co.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) sanctioned J.P. Turner & Co. after they found that the firm violated a rule requiring brokers to ensure that all municipal securities transactions between the firm’s account and a customer’s account be done at a “fair and reasonable price,” according to a cnbc.com article on Tuesday. FINRA also stated that the firm’s supervisory system failed to “provide for supervision reasonably designed to achieve compliance with securities regulations related to fair pricing of municipals.” Because of this, Turner was fined $140,000 and ordered to pay $76,743.68 plus interest in restitution to customers.

In a separate case involving the brokerage firm, FINRA said that it failed to prevent registered representatives from making multiple phone solicitations to numbers that were on both the national do-not-call list and the firm’s own list. The regulatory body found that Turner “failed to establish, maintain and enforce a supervisory system that would prevent those phone calls from being made.” Allegedly J.P. Turner stopped using a third-party telemarketer, except for in one of its offices. FINRA censured the firm and fined it $75,000. Turner has more than 30 regulatory events listed on its BrokerCheck file. The firm is now part of Cetera Financial Group and has been since 2014. According to published reports, about half of Turner’s reps were offered positions with Summit Brokerage Services, a firm that is absorbing J.P. Turner.