Disclosure

For many years, FINRA has attempted in several settings to substitute objective criteria for subjective ones, to try and make things easier for itself, and to make things more consistent from district to district and from firm to firm.  For instance, FINRA used to – and may still today – identify firms whose exam cycles

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 to publish two settlements in the last few weeks that work well to drive this concept home.  And both share an interesting

Outside business activities are in the news. In Reg Notice 17-20, FINRA announced that it was seeking comments in an effort to learn whether or not the existing rules governing OBAs are effective.  (The comment period is open until late June, so if you have strong feelings on the subject, now is the time

Two years ago, FINRA first proposed to the SEC a rule that would require brokers to disclose to clients not only when they receive compensation (including signing bonuses and other payments) to switch from one broker-dealer to another, but, worse, the amount of that compensation. The industry was seriously not pleased with the rule.  FINRA,

Yesterday, NASAA released a Model Fee Disclosure Template for broker-dealers, urging firms voluntarily to adopt the model as a means of clearly disclosing to customers and prospective customers the types and amounts of various miscellaneous fees that BDs ordinarily charge their customers. Working with FINRA, SIFMA, the FSI, LPL Financial LLC, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney