TD Ameritrade will pay a $15,000 fine and more than $10,800 in restitution to Connecticut customers after state regulators found the brokerage firm charged unreasonable commissions on hundreds of small equity trades, according to a consent order issued this month by the Connecticut Department of Banking Commissioner Jorge Perez.
The settlement stems from a multistate investigation coordinated through the North American Securities Administrators Association. Regulators found that from 2018 to 2023, TD Ameritrade executed 797 equity transactions for Connecticut clients that carried commissions exceeding 5% of the trade’s principal value — totaling $10,880 in overcharges. The issue involved minimum commissions applied to broker-assisted trades, which regulators said were not adequately supervised to ensure customers were charged fair prices.
During the period in question, TD Ameritrade charged a fixed minimum fee on trades placed with assistance rather than online. Regulators said the firm’s review systems failed to catch cases where those minimum fees resulted in commissions above reasonable levels.
Under the order, the company must reimburse affected former Connecticut customers with interest and report back to the state once payments are completed. TD Ameritrade, which was registered as a broker-dealer in Connecticut until mid-2024, neither admitted nor denied the findings but agreed to the settlement terms.
The consent order resolves the state’s investigation tied to the excessive commissions but does not preclude future enforcement if the firm fails to meet its obligations.
