Five broker-dealers will pay $9.6 million to settle with Massachusetts’ securities regulator over sales of non-traded real estate investment trusts in the state, Reuters reports.

William Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, said agreements had been reached with Ameriprise Financial Services, the broker-dealer arm of Ameriprise Financial; Commonwealth Financial Network; Royal Alliance Associates; Securities America and Lincoln Financial Advisors.

Investor complaints prompted an inquiry which found "a pattern of impropriety in the sales of these popular, but risky investments on the part of independent brokerage firms where supervision has historically been difficult to maintain," Galvin said, according to the report.

The Secretary’s office settled a similar matter with LPL Financial Holdings in February, after alleging the firm failed to properly supervise brokers who sold non-traded REITs, the Reuters report said. LPL has made total payments under the settlement of more than $5 million.

The firms could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.

The news comes as regulators in the US, as well as abroad, have tried to crack down on systems and controls failures. This week it emerged that LPL will pay a fine of $7.5 million for email system failures, as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said the firm's infrastructure development had not kept pace with its quick expansion. This morning, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority announced it has fined JP Morgan International Bank just over £3 million ($4.6 million) for systems and controls failings relating to its provision of retail investment advice and portfolio investment services.