FROM: SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based financial services firm for improperly calculating advisory fees and overcharging clients.
SEC examinations and a subsequent investigation found that Transamerica Financial Advisors offered breakpoint discounts designed to reduce the fees that clients owed to the firm when they increased their assets in certain investment programs. The firm permitted clients to aggregate the values of related accounts in order to get the discounts. However, Transamerica failed to process every aggregation request by clients and also had conflicting policies on whether representatives were required to pass on to clients the savings from breakpoint discounts. As a result, the firm overcharged certain clients by failing to apply the discounts and failed to have adequate policies and procedures to ensure that the firm was properly calculating its fees.
Transamerica has agreed to settle the SEC’s charges. As a result of the SEC investigation, the firm reviewed client records and has reimbursed 2,304 current and former client accounts with refunds and credits totaling $553,624 including interest. In the settlement, Transamerica has agreed to pay an additional $553,624 penalty.
“Transamerica failed to properly aggregate client accounts so that they could receive a fee discount, and this systemic breakdown caused retail investors to overpay for advisory services in thousands of client accounts,” said Julie M. Riewe, co-chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit.
According to the SEC’s order instituting settled administrative proceedings, Transamerica’s failure to properly process aggregation requests occurred since 2009. SEC examiners first alerted Transamerica about aggregation problems in 2010 after an examination of a branch office. While the firm went on to provide refunds to clients of that branch office, Transamerica failed to undertake a firm-wide review of all client accounts as SEC examiners recommended. Hence during a subsequent examination of the firm’s headquarters in 2012, SEC examiners found that Transamerica was still failing to aggregate certain related client accounts. The problem persisted beyond any one branch office. In fact, Transamerica had conflicting policies throughout its branch offices on whether the firm required its representatives to provide breakpoint discounts to advisory clients.
“The securities laws require investment advisers to charge advisory fees consistent with their own disclosures and stated policies so investors get what they bargained for,” said Eric I. Bustillo, director of the SEC’s Miami Regional Office. “Transamerica failed to take appropriate remedial steps even after SEC examiners had flagged the problem.”
The SEC’s order finds that Transamerica willfully violated Sections 206(2), 206(4), and 207 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rule 206(4)-7. Transamerica agreed to a censure without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, and must cease and desist from committing or causing any further violations of those provisions of the federal securities laws. In addition to the monetary reimbursements and sanctions, Transamerica agreed to retain an independent consultant to review its policies and procedures pertaining to its account opening forms, fee schedules, and fee computation methodologies as well as the firm’s account aggregation process for breakpoints.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Salvatore Massa and Tonya Tullis under the supervision of Chad Alan Earnst in the Miami Regional Office. Mr. Massa and Mr. Earnst are members of the Enforcement Division’s nationwide Asset Management Unit. The 2012 examination that led to the investigation was conducted by Jean Cabot, Jesse Alvarez, and Roda Johnson under the supervision of John Mattimore in the Miami office.
