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 follow up on certain red flags it saw that were indicative of potential misconduct.
I am…
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 umpire deems to be a strike vs. a ball is…
I am fairly certain that at least every once in a while, you appreciate hearing from someone a bit less snarky than me. If so, then you’re in luck! Please enjoy this post from my partner, and my co-leader of Ulmer’s Financial Services practice group, Fran Goins, about FINRA’s response to COVID-19. – Alan
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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…
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 longer than this virus, and which has taken its own toll on the industry in terms of dollars –…
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that one of my pet peeves with FINRA is its unrelenting zeal to bar people, permanently, from the securities industry. Seemingly without much regard for the actual conduct at issue, or for the existence of mitigating circumstances. It is literally a running joke in…
I read with interest earlier this week that a judge in Texas conducted a one-day bench trial via Zoom, apparently representing the first time this has happened. I understand that hearings, i.e., matters that involve arguments of counsel, rather than the introduction of evidence through the examination of live witnesses, are often done over the…
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 – who have been watching the markets not so much fly as plummet? With (perhaps) that very thought…
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 arbitrators who comprise the hearing panel. Doesn’t matter how good your case is, either from…
A couple of years ago, I complained here about FINRA’s Office of Disciplinary Affairs, or ODA. I am here to report that…nothing has changed.
Let me explain. I am defending a FINRA Enforcement case that is scheduled to go to hearing in a few months. As is often the case, before the complaint was filed,…
