Summary:
- U.S. state regulators investigated Robinhood after the retail trading platform suffered outages in March 2020.
- Regulators from California, Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, New Jersey, South Dakota, and Texas worked together on the probe before the $10.2 million fine was issued.
- The platform’s regulatory fines exceed $170 million since 2020 after settlements with the SEC, FINRA, and New York’s Department of Financial Services.
U.S. state securities regulators issued a $10.2 million penalty to crypto and stock trading app Robinhood after claiming that the platform failed to protect investors during outages in March 2020.
The fine forms part of a multi-state settlement after investigations by state regulators uncovered deficiencies at the trading platform, a statement from the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) on Thursday.
In addition, prior to March 2021, there were deficiencies at Robinhood in its review and approval process for options and margin accounts, weaknesses in the firm’s monitoring and reporting tools, and insufficient customer service and escalation protocols that in some cases left Robinhood users unable to process trades even as the value of certain stocks was dropping.
Investigations started with a probe from the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) after the platform experienced technical failures. Securities regulators in California, Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, New Jersey, South Dakota, and Texas contributed significantly to the investigation.
Robinhood Forked Out Over $170 Million In Settlements
The DFPI’s $10 million fine is not the first time Robinhood has been penalized by U.S. regulators. New York’s Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) said the trading app violated state regulations and issued a $30 million fine in 2021. In the same year, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) hurled a $70 million penalty at the platform. FINRA said Robinhood did do enough to protect users.
Before that in 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined the crypto and equities trading app $65 million for allegedly misinforming customers and investors.