Way back in 2006, NASD issued Notice to Members 06-55, which tweaked the Sanction Guidelines to allow not just the size of the firm to be taken into consideration when determining the appropriate sanctions to be meted out, but, more importantly, how well, or how poorly, the firm is doing on its income statement.
disciplinary action
Contrary To What FINRA Believes, Rule 8210 Is Not A Search Warrant
By UB Greensfelder on
I have been waiting for a while to write about this issue, since it arose in an Enforcement case I handled for a client, and I wanted the matter to run its full course at FINRA before I started throwing stones. Sadly, there are so many things I could complain about here. The fact that…
The Rule 8210 Karma Train Runs FINRA Over
By UB Greensfelder on
If you’ve read this blog for even a short while, you know my feelings on Rule 8210, or, more specifically, how FINRA uses that rule, i.e., as a cudgel to keep member firms and their associated persons in line. Endless 8210 requests for documents and information, sometimes asking multiple times for the same stuff, each…
Money Talks, And FINRA Is Listening
By UB Greensfelder on
Last year I wrote about FINRA’s effort to encourage firms to self-report their problems, pausing to wonder at the suggestion attributed to Jessica Hopper, a Senior Vice President with Enforcement, that cooperating with FINRA by self-reporting “not only fulfills a firm’s regulatory responsibilities, but it can also mean the difference between a slap on the…
BD Learns It’s Not Enough To Have A Supervisory Procedure For OBAs, You Actually Have To Follow It
By UB Greensfelder on
In most Enforcement cases involving outside business activities, it is the registered rep who is named as the respondent, and the allegation is that the RR failed to provide notice (or timely notice) to his or her broker-dealer about the OBA. On occasion, however, it is the BD that gets tripped up, typically for not…
FINRA’s “Massive” Discovery Failure Results In…Absolutely Nothing
By UB Greensfelder on
You are not going to believe this one. Here are the unadulterated facts, taken directly from the Order entered by the FINRA Hearing Officer (an Order, by the way, which FINRA elected not to publish on its website):
- Five days into an Enforcement hearing against Respondent Steven Larson, “Enforcement disclosed that it just realized it
…
What Not To Wear (Or Do) At Your FINRA OTR
By Blaine Doyle on
I apologize for not posting anything recently, but, sadly, I was embroiled in a two-week arbitration that occupied most of my recent attention. I am home, however, and back in the saddle. In the meantime, here’s a post from Blaine Doyle, author of the classiest post ever in this blog, something about ancient Greece. I…
No Bar For Submitting False Expense Reports?
By UB Greensfelder on
Here is a post from Michael about a recent settlement involving the submission of false expense reports. The issue isn’t the misconduct, but, rather, the rather tepid sanctions imposed. Do I sense the pendulum starting to swing back? – Alan
It is no secret that FINRA’s Department of Enforcement is attempting to maintain a lower…
This Case Could Mean An End To Bars And Suspensions…Maybe
By UB Greensfelder on
Bear with me here as I relate the tale of John Saad and his tortuous path through the FINRA Enforcement process and, ultimately, the court system. It is worth following me on this journey, as the upshot of the story is that FINRA, which is so quick to want to bar every respondent it sees,…
FINRA’s Heavy Hand Questioned…By FINRA
By UB Greensfelder on
I am on the record, many times, with my belief that, at least in theory, FINRA should never lose any Enforcement cases it files. This is for the simple reason that if FINRA has any genuine doubts about its ability to prevail in front of a hearing panel, due to the quality of the evidence…