NOTE: Stipulations of Fact and Consent to Penalty (SFC); Offers of Settlement (OS); and Letters of Acceptance Waiver, and Consent (AWC) are entered into by Respondents without admitting or denying the allegations, but consent is given to the described sanctions & to the entry of findings. Additionally, for AWCs, if FINRA has reason to believe a violation has occurred and the member or associated person does not dispute the violation, FINRA may prepare and request that the member or associated person execute a letter accepting a finding of violation, consenting to the imposition of sanctions, and agreeing to waive such member's or associated person's right to a hearing before a hearing panel, and any right of appeal to the National Adjudicatory Council, the SEC, and the courts, or to otherwise challenge the validity of the letter, if the letter is accepted. The letter shall describe the act or practice engaged in or omitted, the rule, regulation, or statutory provision violated, and the sanction or sanctions to be imposed.

Joseph Anthony Devito (Principal)
AWC/2007008882403

Devito failed to enforce his member firm’s written supervisory procedures with respect to licensing, in that the procedures required designated supervisory principals to ensure that the associated persons they supervised were properly licensed. Devito failed to enforce the firm’s written supervisory procedures by allowing a then-proprietary trader and associated person to disregard FINRA licensing requirements and the firm’s internal licensing requirements applicable to its proprietary traders. Devito failed to enforce written internal firm trading limits and failed to enforce firm written supervisory procedures concerning the imposition of individual trading limits on proprietary traders by failing to ensure that the individual and other relevant associated persons of the firm understood the meaning and application of the terms of individual trading limits, and by also allowing the associated person to exceed his individual trading limits on several occasions.

Joseph Anthony Devito (Principal): Censured; Fined $10,000

Tags: Proprietary Traders  WSP  Supervision