FINRA recently published a “Discussion Paper” on expungement of customer dispute information in which it outlines its plans going forward on revising the expungement process. Expungement_Discussion_Paper.pdf (finra.org) (Let me just start by applauding FINRA for trying hard to get this right. The current patchwork of expungement rules and guidance could use some improvements, and there
Expungement
FINRA Withdraws Proposed Expungement Rule Changes It Has Worked On For Four Years After Pushback From SEC
By Chris Seps on
Sorry for the flurry of posts this week, but the development Chris writes about here was not expected, and it is important enough that I decided to push it out today, on the eve of a three-day weekend. – Alan
Today FINRA announced in a press release here that it has withdrawn from SEC consideration…
PIABA’s New Expungement Study Shows…Nothing Has Changed, Including The Quality Of Customers’ Claims
By Chris Seps on
I have been in a JAMS arbitration the last week or so, so thanks to Chris — Mr. Expungement — for his thoughts about PIABA’s study. – Alan
In a move that surprised nobody, PIABA[1] recently released an updated study on expungement awards from 2019/2020, and, in the most predictable fashion, they continue to…
FINRA Is About To Make It MUCH Harder To Obtain Expungement – Part Two
By Chris Seps on
Here is the second part of Chris’s blog on FINRA’s effort to make expungement harder and more expensive to obtain. It is remarkable to me just how blatant FINRA has been here in admitting the reasons for the rule amendments. Anyone who thinks that FINRA is a membership organization that actually cares for its members…
FINRA Is About To Make It MUCH Harder To Obtain Expungement – Part One
By Chris Seps on
I apologize for the long break between blog posts, but I have been preparing for a two-week FINRA Enforcement hearing…to be conducted by Zoom! As is typical of most Enforcement cases that go to hearing, the Staff has insisted that — surprise! — my clients be permanently barred. So, while the method of communication will…
A Modest Proposal On The Appropriate Allocation Of Fees In Expungement Cases
By Chris Seps on
A couple of years ago, I complained about PIABA’s effort to make expungement even more difficult to obtain. Well, fast forward to June 1, and, as Chris Seps explains here, the SEC has approved the first proposed expungement rule change from FINRA, one that appears to serve no purpose other than to generate money for…
PIABA’s Anti-Expungement Tirade Is Predictably Short On Facts
By UB Greensfelder on
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 concludes, is that the expungement process is broken, and/or is being gamed by brokers. It does not even…
FINRA Plays Guessing Game With Expungement Waiver Request
By Chris Seps on
When a registered rep contacts us about seeking expungement of customer complaints from his or her CRD record, we always respond that expungement is not a sure thing. It turns out that is more true than ever before because of the way FINRA is treating its “waiver” process.
You see, we recently participated in an…
Expungement: Already An “Extraordinary Measure,” FINRA Now Seeks To Make It Even Less Accessible
By UB Greensfelder on
Expungement is a funny thing, and here’s why: for years, claimants’ counsel have complained loudly to FINRA that expungement was being granted too frequently, that legitimate customer complaints were disappearing from CRD, resulting in an unfair, sanitized representation of brokers’ records that put unsuspecting customers at risk. As Andrew Stoltmann, PIABA’s president, put it so…
FINRA’s 2016 Examination Priorities Letter: Focus On “Firm Culture”
By UB Greensfelder on
Yesterday, FINRA released its annual Examination Priorities Letter in which it set forth the top issues that would guide its examinations in the coming year. Running 13 pages in length (while complaining about having to be so “brief”), FINRA set forth some of the “many areas of potential concern” it expects to encounter this year.…