According to FINRA, Antoine Nabih Souma was fined $20,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in all capacities for two months for violating Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Rule G-17 by providing incorrect and misleading account reports to a customer.

Souma provided customized reports to a customer that purported to show information about holdings in and performance of accounts held by the customer's companies, including municipal securities transactions and positions. However, these reports contained significant errors and omissions that provided a misleading picture of the accounts' actual values, performance, and costs.

The reports contained incorrect account values and account performance information, making it impossible for the customer to accurately understand how the accounts were performing. Some reports omitted positions held in the accounts, concealing investments the customer owned and preventing accurate assessment of portfolio composition and diversification. One report understated the amount of commissions the customer paid for transactions, obscuring the true costs of the trading activity.

The incorrect information was not limited to a single asset class. The reports contained errors regarding municipal securities, corporate bonds, structured products, and other types of securities. This widespread pattern of inaccuracies suggests systemic problems with how Souma was generating and reviewing the reports before providing them to the customer.

MSRB Rule G-17 requires dealers to deal fairly with all persons and prohibits deceptive, dishonest, or unfair practices. Providing account reports with incorrect values, performance information, omitted positions, and understated commissions violates this fair dealing obligation. Customers rely on account reports to make informed decisions about whether to continue holding securities, whether trading activity is appropriate, and whether costs are reasonable.

The customized nature of the reports makes the violations more troubling. These were not standard statements generated by the firm's systems, but rather customized reports that Souma prepared and provided to the customer. This suggests he had control over the information included and should have verified its accuracy before distribution.

When account reports understate commissions, they conceal the true cost of investing and make performance appear better than it actually is. When they omit positions or contain incorrect values, they prevent customers from understanding their actual portfolio composition, risk exposure, and investment results.

Investors should carefully review account statements and reports, cross-check values and positions against trade confirmations, and question any discrepancies. When representatives provide customized reports rather than standard firm statements, investors should be particularly vigilant about verifying accuracy. Any indication that reports contain incorrect values, omitted positions, or understated costs should be immediately reported to firm compliance and to FINRA.