The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Morgan Stanley & Co. and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC $1 million for allegedly charging excessive markups and markdowns on corporate and municipal-bond transactions.
The Morgan Stanley units were also ordered to pay customers $371,000 in restitution and interest, the regulator said. Finra alleged Morgan Stanley charged markups and markdowns ranging from less than 5% up to 13.8%, which were higher than warranted, and said Morgan Stanley’s supervisory system was inadequate as reports weren’t designed to include markups and markdowns below 5%.