A U.S. regulator fined a Morgan Stanley wealth management unit $5 million on Tuesday for supervisory failures related to the sale of shares in 83 initial public offerings, including Facebook Inc and Yelp Inc , to retail customers.The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC lacked adequate procedures and training from Feb. 16, 2012 to May 1, 2013 to ensure sales staff distinguished between "indications of interest" and "conditional offers" when soliciting investors for IPOs whose registration statements had not yet gone effective.FINRA said the unit treated the phrases interchangeably, even though indications of interest lead to share purchases only if investors reconfirm them, while conditional offers to purchase can result in binding share purchases unless investors revoke them.The regulator said the confusion was the result of Morgan Stanley's effort to reconcile different policies at Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc, which had created Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in a 2009 joint venture. Morgan Stanley took full ownership of the business last June.
Citigroup Inc. (Citigroup) is a global diversified financial services holding company whose businesses provide consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services and wealth management. Shares of C fell by 1.26% or $-0.595/share to $46.58. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $45.06 and as high as $55.28. On average, 26738100 shares of C exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 7760637.
Facebook, Inc. (Facebook) is engaged in building products to create utility for users, developers, and advertisers. Shares of FB fell by 1.14% or $-0.7/share to $60.52. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $22.67 and as high as $72.59. On average, 69834096 shares of FB exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 13092630.
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services company that, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides its products and services to a range of clients and customers, including corporations, governments, financial institutions and individuals. Shares of MS fell by 1.16% or $-0.35/share to $29.72. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $23.01 and as high as $33.52. On average, 12717800 shares of MS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 4305389.
Yelp Inc. connects people with great local businesses. Shares of YELP fell by 4.85% or $-2.92/share to $57.27. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $26.75 and as high as $101.75. On average, 5427100 shares of YELP exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2402288.
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