FINRA Fines First Citizens Investor Services $500,000 for Email Review Failures

First Citizens Investor Services, Inc (FCIS) has agreed to pay a $500,000 fine as part of a settlement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the regulator said.

Between March 2019 and May 2026, FCIS failed to review more than 3.5 million emails sent or received by its associated persons. According to FINRA, the failures stemmed from not loading email accounts for new hires into the firm’s email review system, using unreasonably narrow search parameters to flag emails for review, and excluding internal emails from the review process.

As a result, FCIS did not identify issues such as emails containing reportable customer complaints. FINRA said the firm violated Rules 3110 and 2010 by failing to establish, maintain, and enforce a reasonably designed supervisory system, including written supervisory procedures (WSPs), for reviewing electronic communications related to its securities business.

In addition to the fine, FCIS agreed to a censure and to an undertaking to complete its ongoing retrospective review and certify compliance with all reporting obligations based on the review’s findings.

FCIS has been a FINRA member since 1998. Headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, the firm engages in a general securities business and has approximately 760 registered representatives and 375 branch locations, many co-located with bank branches owned by its banking affiliate.