New Mexico Joins $19M Multistate Settlement Over Excessive Commissions

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Filed June 25th, 2025

Detected March 17th, 2026

Summary

New Mexico has joined a multistate $19 million settlement with Edward Jones, LPL Financial, RBC, Stifel, and TD Ameritrade for charging excessive commissions on small-dollar equity transactions. The firms will provide restitution to affected customers and pay $175,000 to New Mexico.

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What changed

The New Mexico Securities Division announced its participation in a multistate settlement with five financial firms: Edward Jones, LPL Financial, RBC, Stifel, and TD Ameritrade. These firms are accused of charging unreasonable commissions, often exceeding five percent of the principal value, on small-dollar equity transactions. The investigation, involving regulators from seven states, found that approximately $19 million was charged for 1.12 million such transactions nationwide. The firms have agreed to provide restitution with interest to affected customers and pay a total of $19 million to the settling states, with New Mexico receiving $175,000.

Financial firms operating in New Mexico and nationwide must review their commission structures for equity transactions, particularly those involving small dollar amounts, to ensure compliance with state securities laws and FINRA Rule 2121. Firms must implement policies and procedures to prevent charging excessive fees. Affected customers will receive restitution directly from the firms. While no specific compliance deadline is mentioned for policy changes, the settlement implies an immediate need for review and adjustment to avoid future enforcement actions and penalties.

What to do next

Review commission structures for small-dollar equity transactions to ensure compliance with FINRA Rule 2121 and state securities laws.
Implement or update policies and procedures to prevent charging excessive fees on customer transactions.
Identify and process restitution for affected customers who were overcharged.

Penalties

$19 million total settlement amount, with $175,000 paid to New Mexico. Firms must provide restitution with 6% interest to affected customers.

Source document (simplified)

New Mexico joins multistate settlement with financial firms for overcharging customers

Impacted New Mexicans will receive restitution plus interest

SANTA FE – The New Mexico Securities Division announced today that is has joined a multistate settlement with Edward Jones, LPL Financial, RBC, Stifel, and TD Ameritrade following an investigation into unreasonable commissions being charged on small-dollar transactions.

The five firms have agreed to provide affected customers with restitution plus six percent interest from the date of the customer’s transaction through the date of the settlement.

The five-year investigation was led by a working group of state securities regulators in Alabama, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Texas, and Washington. The regulators found that the firms charged unreasonable commissions to thousands of retail brokerage customers on certain equity transactions. Investigation data shows that the firms charged approximately $19 million to process 1.12 million small-dollar equity transactions and trades nationwide.

State securities laws prohibit firms from charging unreasonable commissions to clients. Under the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s Fair Prices and Commissions Rule (rule 2121), a commission pattern of five percent or less may be considered unfair or unreasonable. In this case, numerous equity transactions executed by the five firms included a commission that exceeded five percent of the principal value of the transaction.

“This settlement is an important reminder for firms to be diligent with regard to charging practices and ensure they’re dealing fairly with customers,” said Benjamin Schrope, acting director of the New Mexico Securities Division.

In addition to providing restitution for the affected customers, the firms will also pay a fine to each settling state. New Mexico will receive $175,000. Each firm must also take measures to ensure that its policies and procedures include safeguards to prevent charging excessive fees in the future.

New Mexico residents who have questions about this settlement should contact the Securities Division at 505-476-4580 or online at www.rld.nm.gov/securities-division.