NEW YORK The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned some broker dealers to strengthen policies and controls that guard against money laundering, including by taking more care to conduct customer due diligence when opening accounts.

SEC examiners said some broker dealers have not devoted enough resources, including staff, to their anti-money laundering compliance, hurting their ability to build procedures to prevent it as required by U.S. laws, according to an agency notice published this week. Such firms are required to flag suspicious transactions and conduct customer due diligence.

Regulators found some broker dealers did not conduct tests of their anti-money laundering programs in a timely manner or did not do comprehensive testing of these policies, the SEC said.

The SEC, which did not name any firms in its notice, also found that some firms had not updated their programs in line with new regulations.

(Reporting by Chris Prentice; editing by Diane Craft)