According to FINRA, International Assets Advisory, LLC has been censured and fined $20,000 for failing to properly report transactions in TRACE-eligible securities and municipal securities.

The firm failed to report approximately 290 back-to-back principal transactions in TRACE-eligible securities, only reporting trades with other broker-dealers while failing to report the offsetting step-out transactions for a customer who was an independent investment adviser.

Similarly, in approximately 270 back-to-back principal transactions in municipal securities, the firm only reported trades to the MSRB's Real-time Transaction Reporting System (RTRS) without reporting the customer side of the transactions. The firm also reported approximately 40 municipal securities transactions that should not have been reported because the transactions were canceled.

These reporting requirements exist to provide transparency in the bond markets. When firms fail to report all sides of transactions, it can create incomplete pictures of market activity and potentially mislead other market participants about actual trading volumes and prices.

The firm has since begun properly reporting both sides of step-out transactions to TRACE and RTRS as required. Investors should understand that regulatory oversight of trade reporting helps maintain fair and transparent markets for fixed-income securities.