Jackson, Miss – Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson announced the agency's Securities Division has joined a multi-state settlement with Robinhood Financial LLC, which will pay up to $10.2 million in penalties for operational and technical failures.

"Through diligent work, our Securities Division continues to protect the hard-earned money of Mississippi investors. Financial service firms will be held responsible for lack of responsibility and customer care when operating in our state," said Secretary Michael Watson.

State securities regulators began an investigation after Robinhood platform outages in March 2020, a time when hundreds of thousands of investors were relying on the Robinhood app to make trades.

In addition, prior to March 2021, there were deficiencies at Robinhood in its review and approval process for options and margin accounts, weaknesses in the firm’s monitoring and reporting tools, and insufficient customer service and escalation protocols that in some cases left Robinhood users unable to process trades even as the value of certain stocks was dropping.

Robinhood neither admits nor denies the findings as set out in the States’ orders.

The Secretary of State's Office encourages investors to reach out with any concerns or questions regarding investments or financial professionals. The Securities Division may be reached at (601) 359-1334 or securities.customerservice@sos.ms.gov.