The Florida-based Soreide Law Group, (888) 760-6552 obtained the following summation of information from FINRA's website under “Disciplinary and Other FINRA Actions April 2015.”
Souza Barros Securities, Inc. (CRD #149032, Miami, Florida)
was censured and fined $75,000 by FINRA for allegedly failing to implement an adequate AML (Anti Money Laundering) program designed to detect and report suspicious transactions as required under the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations.
Some of the Souza Barros Securities’ foreign institutional clients engaged in activity, including high-turnover securities trading and high-volume cash movement, that Souza Barros Securities should have investigated and reported as suspicious activity. Others engaged in intra-day bond trading and trading of U.S.-dollar denominated foreign bonds.
FINRA's findings stated that despite the potential money-laundering risk presented by these transactions, Souza Barros Securities failed to adequately investigate the activity to determine whether it was consistent with legitimate business purposes. Although Souza Barros Securities employed an automated system for monitoring account activity, the alerts generated by this system were not consistently reviewed and investigated by the appropriate firm personnel.
Also, FINRA's findings stated that Souza Barros Securities failed to maintain and preserve the electronic correspondence of a registered foreign associate who communicated with their clients, including for business purposes, using his personal email address.
(FINRA Case #2012033169201)
The summation from FINRA's website ends here.
Call Soreide Law Group for a consultation at no cost with an attorney on possible recovery your investment losses: 888-760-6552.
Steven Graham (CRD 1977736) denies the allegations in a pending customer claim filed on August 11, 2026. The disclosure names Western International Securities as the firm, and the claim involves corporate bonds. No arbitrator has ruled on it. His BrokerCheck report also lists a settled bond dispute and a federal court matter from earlier years.
A claim filed on September 11, 2024 names Thomas Hamlin (CRD 2208505) over a 10% Senior Unsecured Note in iCap Fund III. Every disclosure on his BrokerCheck report involves an iCap private placement and names Somerset Securities as the firm. Each one settled, and a settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.
Peter Po's most recent settlement came on June 28, 2026, when a corporate bond claim settled for $40,000. Po (CRD 3106974) appears in several settled customer disputes over corporate and high-yield bonds. The disclosures name NI Advisors or California Securities as the firm, and each matter ended in a settlement, not a finding.
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