The US Securities and Exchange Commission has induced BB&T Securities to return more than $5 million to retail investors and pay a $500,000 penalty to settle charges that a firm it acquired misled its advisory clients

The misleading statetments, according to the SEC, led clients to believe that they were receiving full brokerage services in-house at a discount, whereas significantly less expensive options were available externally.

According to the SEC’s order, Valley Forge Asset Management used misleading statements and inadequate disclosures about its brokerage services and prices to convince customers to choose the in-house broker. Despite promises of a high level of service at a low cost, the SEC’s order finds that Valley Forge did not provide any additional services to advisory clients using its in-house brokerage than it did to advisory clients who chose other brokerages with significantly lower commission rates. According to the order, Valley Forge charged commissions averaging roughly 4.5 times more than clients would have paid using other brokerage options. The firm allegedly obscured the price difference by claiming that it was giving clients a 70% discount off of its supposed retail commission rate.