FINRA fined BNY Mellon Capital Markets $60,000 for 1,725 instances of municipal securities reporting failures, sanctioned Wells Fargo for $6.5 million in failed inter-dealer municipal transactions spanning seven years, fined Andrew Mogol $85,000 for check-kiting, the Federal Reserve approved Prosperity Bancshares' acquisition application, and the OCC processed a Genubank charter conversion across 44 total events.

FINRA Fines BNY Mellon $60K for MSRB Reporting Failures

FINRA issued an Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent against BNY Mellon Capital Markets, LLC, imposing a $60,000 fine for failing to include required special condition indicators on 1,725 new-issue municipal securities transactions reported to the MSRB's Real-Time Transaction Reporting System from April 2022 through May 2024. The firm also violated MSRB Rule G-27 by failing to maintain supervisory procedures reasonably designed to ensure compliance with its reporting obligations.

BNY Mellon Capital Markets — the broker-dealer arm of Bank of New York Mellon, one of the world's largest custodian banks — plays a significant role in municipal securities underwriting and trading. The MSRB reporting violations reflect systemic gaps in the firm's transaction reporting infrastructure that persisted for over two years before detection.

Wells Fargo Sanctioned for $6.5M in Failed Muni Trades

FINRA sanctioned Wells Fargo for failing to timely cancel or close out 209 failed inter-dealer transactions in municipal securities totaling approximately $6.5 million and failing to timely deliver 106 municipal securities totaling approximately $3.8 million from November 2016 through November 2023. The firm also failed to promptly obtain physical possession or control of 178 short positions totaling approximately $4.1 million, violating Exchange Act Rule 15c3-3 — the customer protection rule — and MSRB Rule G-12(h).

The seven-year duration of the violations and the combined $14.4 million in affected transactions across three categories of failures represent a significant operational breakdown in Wells Fargo's municipal securities settlement processes.

Mogol Fined $85K, Suspended for Check-Kiting

FINRA fined Andrew S. Mogol $85,000 and suspended him for six months for initiating 30 electronic transfers totaling approximately $85,000 from his personal bank account to his firm brokerage account between May 2023 and May 2024, knowing that his bank account lacked sufficient funds to cover the transfers. Mogol used the credited funds before the transfers were reversed — a classic check-kiting scheme executed through a brokerage account, violating FINRA Rule 2010's standards of commercial honor.

Fed Approves Prosperity Bancshares Acquisition

The Federal Reserve Board approved the application by Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. — the first bank acquisition approval of 2026. Prosperity Bancshares, headquartered in Houston, is one of the largest bank holding companies in Texas, operating Prosperity Bank with over 275 locations. The Fed's approval allows the company to proceed with its acquisition, continuing the consolidation trend among Texas community and regional banks.

Genubank Receives OCC Charter Conversion

Genubank received an OCC charter conversion in Las Vegas, Nevada — a regulatory action that changes a bank's charter type, typically from state to national or vice versa. Charter conversions affect which federal regulator serves as the bank's primary supervisor and can reflect strategic decisions about regulatory environment, branching authority, or compliance framework preferences.

Seven New Firms, Six Closures

Seven new advisory firms registered immediately and three entered the 120-day process, while six firms closed — producing a net gain of four. The closures included two international firms: Cephei Capital in Hong Kong and Eisler Capital (UK) in London, continuing the early January pattern of year-end international deregistrations.

Across the Wire

Ephrata National Bank in Pennsylvania received approval for a business combination. Two FOCUS reports were filed. Thirteen vendor additions and two vendor removals were recorded across broker-dealers. U.S. Bank closed a branch in Cincinnati. The day's 44 events marked the strongest activity since January 3, with FINRA enforcement returning after a week-long post-holiday absence.

All data sourced from FINRA BrokerCheck, SEC EDGAR, Federal Reserve, OCC, and the Finleet Terminal as of January 8, 2026. Entity profiles are available at terminal.finleet.com.