-
Schwab and TD Ameritrade colluded to attack my Schwab account in 2018 - well before their merger. Understand the facts supporting CONSPIRACY, then decide for yourself.
The Dissy Awards and other news
Explore other disciplinary actions and their relevance to the Charles Fraud files.
DISCIPLINARY ACTION OF THE MONTH
The Dissy
April 2025
And the Dissy Award Goes To... MarketAxess Corporation!
Charles Fraud hereby recognizes MarketAxess Corporation for their "pattern and practice" of misreporting trade execution times to the Real-time Transaction Reporting System (RTRS) due to the firm's "incorrect interpretation of the time of trade" and, additionally, for similar issues due to "technological errors" that caused inaccurate and untimely transaction reporting to the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE). The majority of the misreported transactions were inaccurate by only one second - which may not seem particularly severe, but there are several issues that make this "Disciplinary Action" stand out, and a deeper dive confirms that it is genuinely worthy of the DISSY award.
"MarketAxess reported 57,340 [municipal securities] transactions to the RTRS with an inaccurate time of trade due to the firm’s incorrect interpretation of time of trade. For a majority of these transactions, the execution time was inaccurate by one second." MarketAxess A.W.C. FINRA NO. 2020065254901, p.3.
Also, 51,252 corporate bond transactions and 2,446 U.S. Treasury transactions were reported to TRACE with inaccurate transaction times. "For about half of these transactions, the time of execution was inaccurate by one second... These inaccurate and late reports occurred due to a technological error..." MarketAxess A.W.C., p.3.
While a one second deviation may seem insignificant, that is more than enough time to exploit and conceal manipulative and abusive trading. Generally, in electronic trading (and especially in the context of high-frequency algorithmic trading), where many strategies rely on quick responses to real‑time data, even a one‑second deviation can be exploited into an unfair advantage, including Shadow Front Running of Customer Orders and/or concealing Matched-Book or Wash Trades - more on that below. To be fair, nothing of this sort is reported in this A.W.C., but there is nothing to suggest that any serious inquiry was made by FINRA in this regard, either.
The deciding factor for awarding this Dissy was that, even after new measures were implemented "to ensure that accurate execution times were reported to TRACE and RTRS", THE PROBLEMS CONTINUED, AND THERE IS NO MENTION OF THE ISSUE EVER BEING RESOLVED. Astoundingly, the inaccurate times continued to be attributed to the firm's "incorrect interpretation of the meaning of time of trade." p.4
From FINRA MarketAxess A.W.C. NO. 2020065254901 - page 4 (literally as a footnote):
"After January 2022 when the firm began performing automated surveillance and manual reviews of surveillance alerts, the firm continued to report certain municipal bond transactions to RTRS with inaccurate times of trade due to its incorrect interpretation of the meaning of time of trade."
But since this is now a settled matter, and so long as MarketAxess "accepts and consents to the findings without admitting or denying them" and paid the $180,000 fine, the firm is exempt from further action regarding this matter... even for problems that continued after remedial measures were taken and which may still be unresolved. Of course, this A.W.C. contains the standard boilerplate verbiage: "FINRA will not bring any future actions against Respondent alleging violations based on the same factual findings described in this AWC." p.1
So, perhaps MarketAxess continues to operate with an "incorrect interpretation of the meaning of time of trade" and NOBODY CAN STOP THEM! Congratulations! That is an impressive feat well-deserving of a DISSY!
No other details were provided that could answer the following questions:
What was the nature of the "technological errors" that caused the untimely reporting? And why were only some transactions reported inaccurately?
The A.W.C. states that half or more of the erroneous timestamps were 1 second late. So, there are many inaccurately reported transactions erroneous by something other than 1 second. Was there more than one error? Were there additional types of "incorrect interpretation of time of trade"?
Did anyone investigate whether Front Running, Matched-Book or Washed Trades, or other exploitative or manipulative activities were facilitated by or otherwise coincided with these errors? DID FINRA EVEN INQUIRE?
Lastly, here are some additional details regarding how reporting transactions late by one second could be exploited for manipulative purposes:
SHADOW FRONT RUNNING
Suppose a customer order arrives at time zero seconds 0.00s. The firm could front-run the transaction and purchase at time 0.5s. If the execution time of the customer order is delayed by one second, reported as executed at time 1.00s, then surveillance would show the firm's own trade occurring before the customer and thus would not be flagged for front-running.
HIDING MATCHED-BOOK OR WASHED TRADES
Suppose the firm executes both sides of a risk‑free flip (buy → sell) (or is acting in concert with another market participant). By forward-shifting the timestamp of the final transaction by +1s (or more), this can prevent detection of wash trading that can be exploited to manipulate asset prices.
.jpg)
WELCOME TO CHARLESFRAUD.COM
With the introduction of the Dissy Awards, CharlesFraud.com might be the top source - sadly - for hard-hitting reporting about FINRA's Monthly Disciplinary Actions. Unless more attention is given to the FINRA racket, the fleecing of the uninformed public will continue unabated. Typically there are large quantities of transactions that are announced to have been misreported or unreported to the regulatory agencies. FINRA admits that, as a result, they are rendered unable to detect fraudulent and manipulative activities. These errors are typically attributed to innocent oversights and Coding Errors impacting the reporting of many transactions -in some cases millions or even billions of transactions. Deeper dives into the impacts of the errors - beyond regularly reporting deficiencies - simply is not happening in most cases, nor is able to in many instances, perhaps by design by sophisticated fraudsters.
FINRA disciplinary actions permit financial institutions to settle matters "without admitting or denying any wrongdoing" and with the guarantee that no future regulatory actions will be brought based on the facts at issue. So, I created the "Dissy Awards" to raise awareness to the inadequacy of the FINRA regulatory regime. FINRA is a "self-regulatory organization" and receives its funding from the very broker-dealers that it's supposed to regulate.
Charles fraud is dedicated to exposing the truth. Every factual claim here is carefully stated and supported with evidence and analysis. I encourage you to review the Whistleblower Files to see how Schwab and TD Ameritrade's platforms were exploited to defraud my accounts and steal from me - and which left behind only a few subtle errors in the official records. I know I am not the only victim, but I am perhaps the only person with proof because I started taking screenshots of anomalies in my Schwab account to capture balance data that simply cannot be reconciled with the official records. The Charles Fraud mission includes assisting others identify and understand the errors that may be hiding in your account records.
Neither TD Ameritrade or Schwab have acknowledged the systematic fraud, theft, and coverup that occurred in my brokerage accounts. They deny that there are any errors at all. Instead of addressing the facts, they attack my character. The authorities have done nothing other than rubber stamp their lies. Schwab even reported me as some sort of criminal to fraud Hotlists - permanently destroying my credit worthiness. I still have legal claims pending, so I'll avoid any discussion of that situation... (for now), but that does not limit the CharlesFraud.com mission. By informing the public regarding what happened in my accounts, hopefully others will be able identify similar errors in their own records and understand their true significance.
Fraud and corruption are everywhere. Virtually none of it is being revealed and even less is punished. Without effective reporting and enforcement, there is nothing to deter future transgressions. Well, I've decided now to throw my hat in the ring, so I'd appreciate you taking a few minutes to see if maybe I can tempt you to devote just a few more, and then as much as you can take.
Please help me spread the word... Charles Fraud is here.
Read more ABOUT CHARLES FRAUD
Has fraud targeted your brokerage account?
Recordkeeping errors can be rather subtle, but once you know what to look for, it's quite easy to check your own records to see your accounts have been targeted by similar schemes.
Click on the links below to see what to look for:
Brokerage Statement Errors:
Inaccurate dates can indicate missing transactions
Positions missing from Realized Gain/Loss accounting
Check back from time to time, as new topics will continue to be added. Also, be sure to check out the Whistleblower Files that contain detailed walkthroughs of all the Proven Facts.
CONTACT CHARLES FRAUD
email: CharlesFraud0@gmail.com
Follow CharlesFraud0 on X, Instagram, Youtube.
Challenge CharlesFraud at Chess on the Chess.com app.
No cheating... Actually, chess is great at describing many things. For instance, if someone breaks the rules by moving in an invalid manner... the game could be completely compromised. Or, the game could play on and nobody will be the wiser and all consider it to be a fairly played game. In society, as in chess, if someone intentionally moves "erroneously" and then strategically refuses to admit any "error" occurred, this is manifestly unfair. In chess, the players start with equal footing. In the investment world, a completely different reality exists where the advantage goes to the game host. So, gaining any additional advantage gained through unjustified means is simply repulsive. Concealing the proof of fraud, conspiring with supposed competitors, and using the legitimate corporate legal muscle to aggressively deny that any error occurred, well that is deserving of a punishment severe enough to ensure that others won't be motivated to carry out the same types of scheme. Fines should be measured in the hundreds of millions or even billions, otherwise the financial incentive to deny and conceal known wrongdoing. (In 2004, the penalty for corporations violating the Sherman Antitrust Act was raised to $100 Million. Maybe its time to update that to account for inflation and consolidation of entire industries into mega-corporations).
Join the Cause
Charles Fraud will graciously accept your donation
Send BTC: 36ioxJtMZzpzw33YuZusBCVsA81mW6dHSx
Thank you for visiting CharlesFraud.com. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of something much bigger. If you like what you see here and are interested in supporting the cause, please donate!
Perhaps you are tired of donating to charities that spend the money congratulating themselves for their good work, or otherwise to causes that mean well but spend big to support endeavors that do not yield significant action...
I developed all the material on the site (and then had to learn how to make this website)... by myself. Imagine the possibilities if I had the resources to hire a team.
My dream would be to fully devote myself to the Charles Fraud mission and expand my focus to other schemes, fraud, and corruption - not merely limited to my experience with Schwab and TD Ameritrade. There's certainly no shortage of fraudulent schemes and corruption in other areas and industries, both within and beyond the financial world, that needs to be put in check.
Any donation would be genuinely appreciated, and I can guarantee you that it will serve a righteous purpose. But let's not lose focus... The mission here is to raise awareness, and that needn't cost a penny. So, I'll humbly request one more time:
Spread the word... Charles Fraud is here.
All the best,
"Charles Fraud"
36ioxJtMZzpzw33YuZusBCVsA81mW6dHSx
