SEC Charges SpeedRoute LLC with Failing to File Suspicious Activity Reports

ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING
File No. 3-22396

January 10, 2025 - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against SpeedRoute LLC ("SpeedRoute"), a registered broker-dealer, for failing to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs).

To help detect potential securities law and money-laundering violations, broker-dealers like SpeedRoute are required to file SARs describing suspicious transactions taking place through their firms. SpeedRoute is a broker-dealer that routes orders to market destinations for execution on behalf of its broker-dealer clients. According to the SEC's order, from at least January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2023, SpeedRoute failed to surveil for, recognize, and investigate numerous red flags regarding potentially suspicious trading activity related to order flow received from clients. The SEC's order further finds that due to deficiencies in SpeedRoute's design and implementation of its anti-money laundering policies, SpeedRoute failed to file SARs for numerous suspicious transactions during this period.

The SEC's order finds that SpeedRoute willfully violated Section 17(a) of the Exchange Act and Rule 17a-8 thereunder. Without admitting or denying the SEC's findings, SpeedRoute agreed to be censured by the SEC, to cease and desist from future violations, and to pay a civil money penalty of $600,000.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Mary Kay Dunning, Peter Lamore, and James Burt IV under the supervision of Alison R. Levine and Sheldon L. Pollock of the New York Regional Office. The SEC examination that led to the investigation was conducted by Steven C. Vitulano, Edward J. Janowsky, Doreen Piccirillo, and David Jaffe, and was supervised by Lourdes D. Caballes and Michael G. Rufino also of the SEC's New York Regional Office. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).