Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated has agreed to pay a fine of $225,000 as a part of a settlement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

From January 2018 through December 2023, Merrill Lynch invited customers who phoned its call centers to complete a post-call survey, which included a written commentary section.

However, the firm did not reasonably review the written responses to identify customer complaints and failed to reasonably supervise to achieve compliance with its quarterly summary and statistical customer complaint reporting obligations under FINRA Rule 4530( d).

As a result, Merrill Lynch did not report thousands of customer complaints in the survey responses to FINRA.

Therefore, the firm violated FINRA Rules 4530(d), 3110(a) and (b), and 2010.

The firm has agreed to a censure in addition to the $225,000 fine.