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
FINRA
Fourth Circuit Opinion Reveals A Fundamental Problem With The Arbitration Process (A Problem That PIABA Exploits): Arbitrators Need Not Do Their Job Well, Or Even Correctly
By Alan Wolper on
As the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals made clear a week or so ago, serving as a FINRA arbitrator seems rather apropos in a world where the score is not kept in kids’ baseball games (to avoid there being any “losers”), and where adults receive medallions celebrating the fact that they are “participants” in…
Federal Judge Rules That While Zoom Arbitrations Are “Clunkier,” They Are Not Unfair
By Alan Wolper on
Carlos Legaspy is a respondent in a FINRA arbitration that was scheduled to go to hearing in August. As with all other FINRA cases, it was subject to a sweeping administrative decision by FINRA to postpone all in-person hearings through the summer, due to the pandemic. As I have noted before, that decision imbued…
FINRA Membership Statistics Demonstrate The Continuing Demise Of Small BDs, And The Accompanying Rise Of IAs
By Alan Wolper on
Posted in Annual Report, FINRA
For the third year, FINRA has published its now-annual (apparently) statistical accounting of its membership and the registered representatives who work for those firms. I went back and looked the blogs I posted after the 2019 report and the 2018 report, and, predictably (and somewhat sadly), the same trends continued last year as I…
FINRA ♥ Rule 8210
By Alan Wolper on
I hope that you have had the chance to enjoy Jessica Hopper’s paean to Rule 8210 in her recent blog posted on FINRA’s website. Very disturbing, and for all the old reasons.
First, once again, she starts by patting herself – well, not just herself, I guess, but Enforcement generally – on the back for…
Goodbye Suitability, Hello Best Interest. But What Does That Mean, Practically Speaking?
By Alan Wolper on
After having proudly served for decades, and surviving a dramatic face-lift in 2012 (when old NASD Rule 2310 was replaced by shiny new FINRA Rule 2111), it seems that the “suitability rule,” as we’ve come to know it, has, at long last, been quietly sent out to pasture by FINRA. Although the title of Reg…
What Do You Call A Nominating Committee That Doesn’t Actually Nominate Anyone? A FINRA Nominating Committee
By Alan Wolper on
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 Governors. That Board consists of 24 members, as follows:
- Robert Cook, who is
…
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…
For FINRA, Restitution Is The Solution
By Alan Wolper on
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 FINRA again seemed to prioritize restitution over the imposition of a fine. Yesterday, however, FINRA announced a…
FINRA’s New MAP Rules Put Customers’ Interests Ahead Of Everything, Including Logic
By Alan Wolper on
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 rule amendments through, ignoring the concerns of its own member firms. They are now not just rule proposals,…