Finra has imposed sanctions on a Georgia-based broker-dealer over its mis-selling of XIV, a now-defunct exchange-traded note (ETN) issued by Credit Suisse.

The broker-dealer, Smith, Brown & Groover (SBG), has settled allegations that it recommended a trading strategy that primarily invested in an ETN without fully understanding its features and risks, which caused ‘near total losses’ for more than 350 retail customers, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra). The strategy was recommended to the customers via discretionary accounts from July 2014 to February 2018 after it was d eveloped by the firm’s p