Goldman Sachs has settled a $6 million charge from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), having admitted the commission’s findings regarding the submission of deficient blue sheet data.
Specifically, the SEC asserted that the firm failed to provide complete and accurate securities trading information – more than 22,000 deficient blue sheet submissions – over approximately ten years.
Thomas Smith Jr., associate regional director in the New York regional office, said: “Firms must provide complete and accurate blue sheet data in response to our requests. Blue sheet data is vital to the Commission’s ability to carry out its enforcement and regulatory functions and to protect investors and maintain market integrity.”
Goldman was found to be lacking in its processes for verifying the accuracy of its electronic blue sheet submissions. The submissions in question relate to around 163 million transactions in which inaccurate, or missing, trade data. The same order also found that Goldman had made efforts to remedy and improve its reporting systems and controls, with a full-scale review undertaken.
The SEC stated today that it found Goldman “willfully violated the broker-dealer recordkeeping and reporting provisions of the federal securities laws”.
In a separate ruling, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has also reached a settlement with Goldman for related conduct, the SEC highlighted in an announcement.
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This move follows a recent increase in SEC actions within the market. Earlier this year, JP Morgan was ordered to pay a $4 million civil monetary penalty to the SEC for mistakenly deleting 47 million emails.