Enforcement

Last week, word spread about a legal challenge that has been mounted in federal court against FINRA’s ability to enforce violations of the Securities Act of 1933, and, perhaps not surprisingly, it has generated a lot of talk, not to mention enthusiasm (at least among those who chafe at FINRA’s aggressive Enforcement mentality). The specifics…

For some reason, a bunch of noteworthy events all happened around the same time this week, so please bear with me as I vent a little about them.  Individually, they are irritating; in the aggregate, they are borderline alarming.

First, the FINRA Wells process. I have blogged about this before, and how, in a…

Years ago, I handled the defense of a FINRA Enforcement case that still galls me.  The client sent a series of emails, over many months, about a particular security to customers who already owned the stock.  The point of the emails was largely to provide updates, and, from time-to-time, to suggest that the customers consider…

With any luck, you can go your entire career in the securities industry without ever participating in the dreaded “Wells process.” And that’s a good thing, as the Wells process occurs only after FINRA has completed an examination and has concluded that whatever it has encountered is so serious that a formal disciplinary action is…

Fans of this blog (or, at least, readers of this blog who are fans of Jeopardy) will no doubt remember Alan’s prior post, published a few weeks ago, and discussing a recent case that FINRA’s Department of Enforcement brought against one of our clients. From the very beginning, we, as her counsel, were both…

I am currently in the midst of a FINRA examination that is largely focused on the adequacy of the due diligence that my broker-dealer client conducted of a private placement. What is puzzling about the exam is that FINRA is not just interested in the due diligence that was conducted prior to effecting any sales…

I have written before about some of FINRA’s procedural processes that seem strange and unfair. For instance, the constitutionally guaranteed Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination? Doesn’t exist in FINRA world. Try invoking the Fifth at a FINRA OTR rather than answering a question and you will be facing a permanent bar for violating Rule 8210.…

We have previously posted on the issue of CCO liability, a very sensitive subject, to say the least, for many readers of this blog.  If this is a subject that interests you, then there was a very intriguing development this past week in this area that merits your attention.

It came in the form of…