On November 2, 2016, FINRA announced fines against eight firms, totaling $6.2 million, related to supervisory failures for sales of L-share variable annuities.  FINRA has been focused on L-share variable annuity sales, because they are often sold with long-term minimum income riders, which may be incompatible with the higher up-front fees and shorter surrender periods normally associated with the L-share class.  Rather than claim that these products were unsuitable for certain investors, FINRA’s enforcement action alleges that firms did not have adequate supervisory systems in place to monitor the L-share variable annuity sales.  Moreover, many of the eight fined firms did not have supervisory systems reasonably designed to identify “red flags” related to the L-share variable annuity sales (e.g., the “red flag” of L-shares sold to senior investors with long-term riders).

Industry experts anticipate further FINRA enforcement actions related to the sale of L-share variable annuities, and many firms have gradually been eliminating L-share classes from their fund lineups in response to this recent regulatory scrutiny.