Ameritrade Discusses NASD Settlement

Ameritrade Holding Corp., the biggest online brokerage, said the NASD has made a “preliminary determination” to discipline it for letting clients buy securities before they had enough cash in accounts to pay for them.

The Omaha-based broker is discussing a possible settlement of the year-old charges that may involve “censures, fines, suspension or other sanctions,” it said in a regulatory filing Monday. Ameritrade previously announced the probe but not the likely disciplinary action.

The investigation involves clients of Ameritrade and its IClearing subsidiary who bought securities with proceeds from stock sales that had not yet been deposited in their accounts. The customers, including some active traders from the Datek Online Financial Services unit Ameritrade bought in September, allegedly violated the Federal Reserve System’s Regulation T that sets margin trading rules, the filing said.

“We’re unable to predict the outcome” of the settlement talks, Ameritrade spokeswoman Donna Kush said. A spokeswoman for the NASD, formerly the National Assn. of Securities Dealers, said the self-regulatory group does not comment on ongoing investigations.

Shares of Ameritrade slipped 18 cents to $9.82 on Nasdaq.

From Bloomberg News