Barclays Capital

Kurta Law is investigating recommendations by brokers from Barclays Capital (CRD#: 19714). Investors should know that the firm has been fined millions of dollars by FINRA and has faced allegations concerning its supervisory systems. Barclays Capital is a brokerage firm headquartered in New York, New York.

Barclays Capital has operated under 16 names, including:

• Barclays Wealth and Investment Management
• Americas Wealth and Investment Management, A Division of Barclays
• Funds and Advisory-Americas
• BZW Securities Inc.
• BCFS – Americas
• Barclays Wealth Americas
• Barclays Wealth
• Barclays Securities Inc.
• Barclays De Zoete Wedd Securities Inc.
• Barclays De Zoete Wedd Government Securities, Inc.

Fees and Conflicts of Interest

Brokerage firms are required to inform investors about their conflicts of interest and the fees they charge in their Customer Relationship Summary (Form CRS). Barclays Capital discloses the following in its Form CRS:

• You’ll pay fees on each transaction, including commissions and their equivalents, markups or markdowns to the price of a security, sales charges, and spreads (the difference in a security’s buy and sell price). These fees and commissions may be negotiable, and will vary based on your trading volume, types of trades, type of account, and other factors.
• These fees incentivize the firm to recommend frequent trading and complex transactions.
• Some fees are embedded within the firm’s proprietary products, such as certain indices and derivatives.
• Barclays Capital receives compensation and reimbursement from corporate entities and issuers in connection with the firm’s banking business. Fees paid to the firm from these transactions will be disclosed in a security’s prospectus or other offering documentation.
• Barclays Capital makes money when you purchase securities issued, sponsored, or managed by its affiliates, incentivizing the firm to recommend these investments over others. This also extends to quantitative investment strategies administered by affiliate Barclays Bank PLC.

Broker-Dealer Services

In addition to stocks and bonds, Barclays Capital also offers the following investment vehicles. However, investors should keep in mind that these products can come with significant risks and high fees:

• Derivatives, e.g. options
• Structured products
• Private placements

Regulatory Actions

Barclays Capital discloses its history of regulatory actions, including fines by FINRA, on its detailed BrokerCheck page.

$1.25 Million FINRA Fine

In a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver & Consent (AWC) filed on August 22, 2024, FINRA alleged that Barclays Capital failed to fingerprint and screen more than 3,980 of its non-registered associated persons for statutory disqualification.

The firm allegedly also failed to maintain fingerprint records for an additional 534 non-registered associated persons from 2004-2016.

FINRA censured Barclays Capital, fined it $1.25 million, and ordered the firm to review its records and supervisory system to address the issues alleged in the AWC. You can read the full AWC here.

Alleged Failure to Monitor Research Analysts

On April 12, 2024, FINRA filed an AWC alleging that Barclays Capital failed to comply with FINRA rules concerning research analyst conflicts of interest between 2016-2019.

More specifically, FINRA alleged that Barclays Capital failed to reasonably monitor research analysts’ managed brokerage accounts for their compliance with trading restrictions or whether they held securities in companies they covered.

The firm allegedly also failed to disclose to FINRA in at least 803 reports that certain affiliates had received non-investment banking related compensation from securities issuers in the previous 12 months.

Barclays Capital consented to a censure and a $700,000 fine. You can access the full AWC here.

$2.5 Million FINRA Fine

On April 18, 2023, Barclays Capital consented to the entry of findings that it allegedly inaccurately reported or failed to report over-the-counter (OTC) options positions to the Large Options Positions Report (LOPR) in approximately 4.3 million instances due to coding errors in the firm’s systems.

The AWC further alleged that the firm failed to establish a supervisory system designed to comply with FINRA Rule 2360(b)(5), which requires firms to report any account that establishes an aggregate position of 200 or more options contracts on one side of the market covering the same underlying security or index.

The firm consented to a censure and fine of $2.5 million. You can read the full AWC here.

Alleged Inaccurate Trade Volume Advertisement 

On November 21, 2022, FINRA filed an AWC alleging that Barclays Capital overstated its daily trading volume advertised through market data provider Bloomberg, L.P. in thousands of instances and by approximately 147 million shares between 2014 and 2019.

The AWC further alleged that the firm’s proprietary system was flawed, resulting in inflated trade volume calculations being transmitted to Bloomberg, and that its supervisory system was not reasonably designed to address how to calculate its trading volume or ensure its accuracy.

FINRA censured Barclays Capital and fined it $175,000. You can access the full AWC here.

$2 Million FINRA Fine

In an AWC filed on October 4, 2022, Barclays Capital consented to the entry of findings that it allegedly failed to comply with best execution obligations with regard to clients’ electronic equity orders.

The firm allegedly failed to consider routing arrangements that could have provided faster execution or possible price improvement for clients’ orders routed to the firm’s alternative trading system (ATS).

Barclays Capital allegedly also failed to establish a supervisory system reasonably designed to achieve compliance with its best execution obligations, including the evaluation of the execution quality of client orders.

The firm consented to a censure by FINRA and a $2 million fine. You can read the full AWC here.

How Can Investors Recover Lost Funds from a Brokerage Firm?

Brokerage firms typically require investors to pursue FINRA arbitration rather than civil court. If you believe your losses are the result of broker misconduct, reach out to a securities attorney for a case evaluation.

Kurta Law Can Help

Investors who lost money working with a Barclays Capital broker should reach out to an investment fraud lawyer for help. Our attorneys offer free case evaluations and do not charge a fee unless we win your case. Call (877) 600-0098 or email info@kurtalawfirm.com.