The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced settled charges against Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC for failing to provide complete and accurate securities trading information, known as blue sheet data, to the SEC. Goldman agreed to pay a $6 million penalty to resolve the SEC’s charges.
According to the SEC’s order, over a period of approximately ten years, Goldman made more than 22,000 deficient blue sheet submissions to the SEC. The order finds that, as a result of 43 different types of errors, these submissions contained missing or inaccurate trade data for at least 163 million transactions. The order further finds that Goldman lacked adequate processes to verify the accuracy of its electronic blue sheet submissions.
“Firms must provide complete and accurate blue sheet data in response to our requests,” said Thomas P. Smith Jr., Associate Regional Director in the New York Regional Office. “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.”
The SEC’s order finds that Goldman willfully violated the broker-dealer recordkeeping and reporting provisions of the federal securities laws. Goldman admitted the findings in the SEC’s order and agreed to be censured and to pay the $6 million penalty. The SEC’s order also finds that Goldman engaged in remedial efforts to correct and improve its blue sheet reporting systems and controls, including conducting a full-scale review of its reporting program that resulted in the self-reporting of 29 of the 43 types of errors underlying the order and significant supervisory control enhancements.
Separately, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reached a settlement with Goldman for related conduct.
