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Securities Regulators Cite SAR Filings in $5.9 Million Penalty Against New York Firm

By Colby Adams

A New York brokerage firm violated the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to report suspicious activity related to a scheme to bilk third-party investors, securities regulators said Tuesday. From January 2009 to September 2010, Hold Brothers On-line Investment and its owner, Steve Hold, allowed overseas traders to place and then cancel orders in an effort to manipulate the price of securities for Trade Alpha Corporate Ltd. and Demostrate LLC, two businesses created and partly owned by Hold, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said. In addition to violating U.S. securities laws by profiting on the scheme, Hold Brothers executives...

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