Oak Ridge Financial Services Group Settles with FINRA

Oak Ridge Financial Services Group, Inc. has reached a settlement agreement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), incurring a fine of $270,000. This resolution follows an investigation that uncovered the firm's involvement in executing 89 corporate bond transactions at unfair prices between April 2020 and January 2024. The discrepancies arose because the firm relied on incorrect prevailing market prices for these bonds. In an additional 27 transactions, even when the correct market prices were utilized, the mark-ups or mark-downs applied by the firm were considered unfair in comparison to similar corporate bond transactions.

The investigation revealed that Oak Ridge violated multiple FINRA rules, specifically Rules 2121 and 2010 concerning fair pricing practices. Moreover, the firm failed to establish and maintain a supervisory system, including written supervisory procedures that were reasonably designed to achieve compliance with fair pricing obligations, thereby violating FINRA Rules 3110 and 2010.

In conjunction with the financial penalty, Oak Ridge has committed to pay restitution totaling $68,857.69, plus interest, to the affected customers. The firm has also accepted a censure as part of the settlement terms. Established in 1997, Oak Ridge offers a range of wealth management and investment banking services, operating with 57 registered representatives across two branches in Minnesota.