Midsize broker-dealer in Atlanta to shut down
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After a huge trading loss, IFS Securities will close.
After getting whacked with a $10 million trading loss over the summer, IFS Securities will shut its doors.
According to its BrokerCheck report, on Monday IFS Securities changed its status with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. from active, or open for business, to “termination requested,” meaning it has filed a formal notice that it is closing its operations with Finra.
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A call to the firm’s main office in Atlanta could not be completed because the phone was out of service. A spokesperson for the broker-dealer, Juliann Kaiser, did not return calls on Friday to comment.
It was a year of woe for IFS Securities, which at one time had 160 registered reps and advisers.
In August, it was reported that the firm’s head municipal securities trader, Keith Wakefield, made unauthorized trades and shorted Treasury bonds, resulting in the $10 million loss. He then was fired and barred from the securities industry.
IFS did not have sufficient funds to settle the bond trades, according to reports.
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