I had an experience with FINRA this week that cannot go without comment, as it highlights one of the biggest issues that my clients and I have with FINRA.
One of the more obscure departments within FINRA is the Market Operations Department.[1] I am not entirely sure of all of its functions, but, at…
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…
The Rick Ketchum Show. Today’s sessions opened with what was likely the highlight of the entire conference, Rick Ketchum’s swan song “conversation” with Ira Hammerman, GC of SIFMA, before he toddles off into retirement. Granted, these interviews never remotely approach Sixty Minutes intensity, but this year’s featured even more coddling than ever:
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Opening Session/Firm Culture/CCO Liability. If you are reading this blog, then you, like me, have been probably eagerly waiting for the start of SIFMA’s annual Compliance and Legal conference not just for the jumbo shrimp at the reception, but also to learn some insights from the regulators about their concerns and intentions. If you…
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…
By now you have probably read FINRA’s recent “Targeted Exam Letter” entitled “Establishing, Communicating and Implementing Cultural Values.” In case you haven’t, it is clear that FINRA is following up on the promise it made in January in the 2016 Regulatory & Examination Priorities Letter to “formalize [its] assessment of firm culture while…
Once again, I found myself gritting my teeth in frustration after reading yet another PIABA report complaining about some perceived inequity in the FINRA arbitration process that cuts against customers. This week, PIABA released its study demonstrating that sometimes when claimants prevail in arbitrations against broker-dealers, the BD that lost is unable to pay the…
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…
In Homer’s epic poem the Odyssey, Odysseus and the crew of his ship are faced with the impossible choice of either sailing closer to Charybdis, a whirlpool capable of sinking their entire ship, or, alternatively, to Scylla, a sea monster just as deadly. Odysseus’ dilemma sprang to mind as I listened to a presentation…
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.…
