SEC Win Stands in Alpine Securities Financial Crime Reports Case

Alpine Securities Corp. lost its bid to undo an SEC win in a case accusing it of failing to comply with suspicious activity report requirements, after the Second Circuit affirmed the agency’s enforcement authority Friday.

The Utah-based broker argued that the Securities and Exchange Commission lacked authority to enforce the SAR portions of the Bank Secrecy Act and the district judge shouldn’t have imposed a $12 million fine. But the agency has “independent authority” to make sure broker-dealers “comply with reporting and recordkeeping requirements,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said.

The fact that an SEC ...