This will be a quick one, but I just had to get something off my chest before the weekend. As you probably know, there is an election upcoming. No, not that one, the one to elect certain members of FINRA’s Board of...more
I have blogged before about hold recommendations. Surprisingly – at least to me – the statistics I get from the publisher of this blog reveal that more people have read that particular post than anything else I have written...more
Seems like just days ago I blogged about Jessica Hopper and her commitment to providing restitution to customers. Since I posted that blog, there were two other settlements (which I added to that blog as updates) in which...more
Two years ago, when it was just an ugly rule proposal, I blogged about FINRA’s intent to modify its MAP rules to “Incentivize Payment of Arbitration Awards.” Sadly, FINRA once again showed it spinelessness by pushing these...more
Last year, I wrote a piece called “Wedbush Learns That It’s Not Enough Just To Spot Red Flags.” As the title suggests, it analyzed an SEC decision in which Wedbush was sanctioned because it failed in several respects to...more
I may have said this before in another post, but in my opinion, whether a baseball umpire is good or bad is not a matter of whether he has a low strikezone, a high strikezone, or a wide one. What matters is that whatever that...more
I hope that, by now, everyone understands and appreciates just how freakishly sensitive the regulators are to misconduct involving the wrongful sharing of confidential information. If you don’t, however, FINRA was kind enough...more
Let’s take a step back from Covid-19 news, for a moment, which, rightfully, has dominated the news and everyone’s collective conscience, and focus on something that has been pervasive in the broker-dealer world for much, much...more
Forced to sit at home under government-ordered decree, and having finished binge-watching Season 3 of Ozark and Season 4 of Money Heist on Netflix, what’s left to do except prey upon scared investors – particularly seniors –...more
I think that most lawyers who handle arbitrations, no matter what side of the table they occupy, would agree that one of the most important components of the case – perhaps the most important – is the selection of the...more
The day after Christmas, FINRA issued a press release announcing that five big firms – Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, LPL, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch – had each entered into a settlement, collectively agreeing to pay a...more
From time to time, I have lamented that FINRA does not hold itself to the same lofty standards to which it holds its members. I realize I am painting with a broad brush, as there are lots of folks at FINRA who do a great job,...more
1/3/2020
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Firms ,
Investment Fraud ,
Investment Funds ,
Restitution ,
Vacated
My young boys will sometimes chase me around the house, catch me, and yell “gotcha” as they drag me off to their pretend jail. No matter how much I plead that I’ve done nothing wrong, I always end up in jail, despite having...more
12/19/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Lack of Interpretive Guidance ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Regulation BI ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions
Michael Gross and Alan Wolper will discuss outside business activities, the 2019 report of exam findings and observations, and internal changes at FINRA.
...more
This post is about Reg BI, but if you really want to learn about it, as opposed simply to listening to me gripe, I urge you to register for the webcast that my partners Heidi VonderHeide and Rob Betman will present on...more
As I have mentioned before, several times, PIABA is deathly concerned with the fact that sometimes customers who prevail in arbitrations are unable to collect their awards, which typically happens when the respondent firm...more
Here is how PIABA’s one-track mind operates: in a Report it just issued, PIABA laments the frequency with which registered reps are able to get customer complaints expunged from their records. The sole reason for this, PIABA...more
10/23/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitrators ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Consumer Complaint Management ,
Expungement ,
False Evidence ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Firms ,
Investment Management ,
Public Records ,
Registered Representatives
In the past week, I ran across two discrete instances in which FINRA acts as a secret gatekeeper of sorts, exercising its own subjective judgment, without anyone knowing what, exactly, it is doing or why, employing...more
Last year, for the first time, FINRA produced a statistical report designed to provide some perspective on the firms that comprise its membership. I blogged about it, and concluded at the time that the report basically...more
Anyone who has sat through a talk by financial regulators is undoubtedly familiar with the refrain from the individuals that they do not speak for the Commission and that the opinions offered are their own. Even with that...more
9/30/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Enforcement ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Popular ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Self-Reporting ,
Transparency
I was catching up on my reading and came across a column in Investment News by Mark Schoeff that described the results of a recent FINRA arbitration, results which I found a bit alarming. I caution you: reading too much into...more
9/25/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compensatory Damages ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Firms ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Liability ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Securities Transactions ,
Unregistered Brokers
I have written a few times about FINRA’s ceaseless interest in bringing cases against registered reps who fail to update their Form U-4 in a timely manner to disclose the fact that a tax lien has been filed against them. Or...more
I read an article this week in Investment News with the following headline: “Brokerage Customers Winning More FINRA Arbitration Cases.” As a guy who defends customer cases, I was naturally intriguied by this. According to the...more
Rightly or wrongly, I don’t know much about cryptocurrencies or digital coins. But that’s ok. What is worrisome, on the other hand, is that I am increasingly concerned that FINRA doesn’t either. And while my own ignorance...more
If you read this blog even semi-regularly, you know that I have taken a few shots at PIABA. I think they’re well earned, but some people – particularly PIABA lawyers, not surprisingly – have suggested that I’m overdoing it....more