Monday, February 22, 2021
On January 8, 2021, without admitting or denying the findings, VALIC Financial Advisors, Inc., (VALIC) entered into a settlement with FINRA Enforcement, through an Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) where the factual allegation was that between January 1, 2017, and October 31, 2018, the broker-dealer failed to “establish a reasonably designed system and written supervisory procedures for the surveillance of rates of [Variable Annuities] exchanges and for corrective action in the case of inappropriate exchanges, in violation of FINRA Rules 2330(d), 3110, and 2010.” VALIC agreed to a censure and a $350,000 fine.
VALIC was acting as a retailer of mutual fund shares, variable life insurance, annuities, and corporate debt securities. It also acted as a municipal securities broker and provided investment advisory services. As evidence of FINRA’s tenacity in reviewing variable annuities activities, this was the second AWC in just over two years