The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network assessed a historic $80 million civil money penalty against Canaccord Genuity LLC for Bank Secrecy Act violations related to securities fraud, making it one of the largest FinCEN penalties ever imposed on a broker-dealer — headlining 165 events tracked across all financial verticals on Thursday.

The Canaccord Penalty

FinCEN's $80 million assessment against Canaccord Genuity represents a landmark enforcement action in the anti-money laundering space. The penalty stems from BSA violations tied to securities fraud, indicating that the firm's anti-money laundering controls failed to detect or report suspicious activity connected to fraudulent securities transactions flowing through its accounts.

The size of the penalty places it among the largest FinCEN has assessed against a securities firm. For context, most AML penalties against broker-dealers range from hundreds of thousands to low millions of dollars. An $80 million assessment signals that FinCEN determined the violations were severe, prolonged, and caused significant harm to the financial system's integrity.

The action comes in the same week that FINRA sanctioned Herold & Lantern for AML failures in low-priced securities, reinforcing that anti-money laundering compliance is under coordinated regulatory scrutiny from multiple agencies simultaneously.

FATF Updates AML Deficiency List

FinCEN also flagged that the Financial Action Task Force updated its identification of jurisdictions with anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, and counter-proliferation financing deficiencies. FATF grey-listing and blacklisting decisions directly affect how U.S. financial institutions must treat transactions involving those jurisdictions, requiring enhanced due diligence or outright prohibition depending on the designation.

Broker-dealers and RIAs with international clients or cross-border transaction flows should review the updated list against their customer base and correspondent relationships.

AssetMark Brokerage Hires Dedicated AML Officer

In a move that takes on added significance given the day's enforcement headlines, AssetMark Brokerage LLC (CRD: not disclosed) in Concord hired Jennifer Michelle Diedenhofen as a dedicated AML Compliance Officer while simultaneously transitioning John Henry Koval out of the AML role. Koval had been carrying AML duties alongside CFO, FINOP, PFO, and POO responsibilities — a level of role stacking that regulators have flagged as a risk factor for AML program effectiveness.

Leadership Shifts Across Broker-Dealers

Momentum Independent Network Inc. in Dallas promoted John Richard Muschalek from Board Director to President. First Horizon Advisors Inc. in Memphis saw President Karen Morton Kruse move to Chief Compliance Officer — an unusual downward move that may signal a restructuring at the bank-affiliated dealer. Culvert Capital LLC's CCO transitioned to Principal Financial Officer.

CFTC Senior Advisor Departs

CFTC Chairman Selig announced the departure of Senior Advisor Brigitte Weyls, continuing the agency's leadership transition that began with three senior appointments earlier in the week. The turnover at the CFTC reflects the typical reshaping of agency leadership under new chairmanship.

FINRA Announces TRACE Migration

FINRA issued a reminder about the transition of TRACE — the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine — to Native FIX protocol. TRACE is the system through which broker-dealers report fixed-income transactions, and protocol changes require firms to update their trade reporting infrastructure. Firms that fail to migrate risk reporting failures that can trigger regulatory action.

Across the Wire

Six new advisory firms registered including international entrants Hiro Capital I LLP from London and Merricks Capital Funds Management from Melbourne. Five firms closed their registrations. Twelve RIA graduations were completed, two firms failed the 120-day process, and 11 advisors changed firms. CNR Securities LLC was downgraded from medium to small in FINRA's firm-size classification. The OCC approved four branch establishments and three corporate actions. Twenty-nine additional FOCUS reports were filed with the SEC.

All data sourced from FinCEN, FATF, FINRA, SEC EDGAR, OCC, CFTC, and the Finleet Terminal as of March 6, 2026. Entity profiles are available at terminal.finleet.com.