UPDATE: Finra Bans Jesup & Lamont From Securities Dealings

(Updates with no comment from chairman, number of employees, brokers; updates stock quote)

 
   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ordered Jesup & Lamont Inc.'s (JLI) brokers to stop making trades, except liquidations, because of its securities subsidiary's capital deficiency.

Shares of the small investment bank and brokerage firm, which has 125 brokers and 200 total employees, closed down 21% Monday, at 16 cents. The stock has lost 62% this year.

Reached by phone late Monday, Chairman Steven Rabinovici declined to comment on Finra's notice received Friday that the securities unit of Jesup & Lamont was out of compliance with a Securities and Exchange Commission capital rule.

But in a statement Monday, the company, based in New York, said it is taking steps to regain permission to restart transactions. Jesup & Lamont added that it is seeking to show it has complied with the orders and hopes to resolve the issue soon.

The firm reported last month its revenue rose 58% but a first-quarter loss widened slightly on one-time expenses related to its proposed merger with New York merchant bank Tri-Artisan Partners LLC.

-By Tess Stynes and Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2357; [e-mail];