According to FINRA, General Securities Corp was censured and fined $25,000 for willfully failing to disclose disciplinary history in its customer relationship summary (Form CRS).

The North Kansas City, Missouri firm failed to respond "Yes" to the question about legal and disciplinary history when it filed its initial Form CRS, despite the fact that the firm and two of its registered representatives had prior reportable legal or disciplinary history. The firm's Form CRS also omitted the required heading and conversation starters for Item 4.

Subsequently, the firm filed an amended Form CRS that responded "Yes" to the disciplinary history question. However, the amended form still omitted the required heading.

Form CRS is designed to help retail investors understand the nature of their relationship with a broker-dealer or investment adviser. The disciplinary history section is particularly important because it alerts investors to past problems that may be relevant to their decision to do business with a firm.

When firms fail to accurately disclose disciplinary history, investors cannot make fully informed choices. The "conversation starters" that were omitted are questions investors can ask to learn more about the firm and its services.

Investors can access any broker-dealer's Form CRS and detailed disciplinary history through FINRA BrokerCheck. Before opening an account, reviewing this information can help you understand whether there have been past regulatory issues.

The firm has been required to undertake corrective measures as part of the settlement.

For investors, always review a firm's Form CRS and check BrokerCheck before establishing a relationship. Don't rely solely on what the firm tells you—verify disciplinary history independently.