NYSE Bars Former Van der Moolen Trader

The New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday censured a former trader at Van der Moolen Specialists USA, the first punishment of a market-maker in its probe into the exchange’s auctioneers.

Michael F. Stern, 54, was also permanently barred from working on the floor or for a NYSE member company for refusing to testify to investigators, the exchange said. Stern’s lawyer didn’t return a call for comment.

Van der Moolen and the six other firms that make markets in NYSE-traded shares agreed this year to pay $247 million to settle claims by regulators that they shortchanged customers by making improper trades. NYSE Chief Regulatory Officer Richard Ketchum said last month that a “substantial” number of individual traders will be disciplined for their role in the alleged wrongdoing.

Stern, who retired in April, was told in January that his trading from 1999 to 2003 was under investigation, the NYSE said.

In June, he agreed to testify before the exchange’s enforcement division. A month later, his attorney said he wouldn’t comply with the request, the NYSE said.

As part of the settlement, Stern didn’t admit or deny wrongdoing. He couldn’t be reached for comment.

Amsterdam-based Van der Moolen, the NYSE’s fourth-biggest market maker, oversees trading in shares of more than 400 companies, including Eli Lilly & Co. and International Paper Co., according to the firm’s website.

Company executives were unavailable for comment.

Van der Moolen shares fell a penny to $7.89 on the NYSE.