SEC Sanctions 13 Firms For Sale Of Puerto Rican Junk Bonds

The Securities Exchange Commission sanctioned 13 firms for selling bonds below a $100,000 sales minimum in a $3.5 billion offering of junk bonds in Puerto Rico. The SEC says it discovered 66 occasions when dealer firms sold Puerto Rican bonds in amounts below $100,000. Among the companies were Charles Schwab & Co., Interactive Securities LLC, Oppenheimer & Co., TD Ameritrade, UBS Financial Services, JP Morgan Securities and Lebenthal & Co., among others. Each firm agreed to settle with the SEC and pay penalties ranging from $54,000 to $130,000.