As the song goes, time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future. While Steve Miller may not have had FINRA and the SEC in mind when he wrote that lyric, the shoe certainly fits. Because here’s the thing about the passage of time, at least in FINRA/SEC world: typically, regulators pay it little attention.
disciplinary hearings
A Sad Story Of Regulators Simultaneously Doing Too Much And Too Little
By Alan Wolper on
Not too long ago, a single, small BD experienced a bizarre combination of regulatory overzealousness and regulatory indifference, by the SEC and FINRA, respectively. These things, sadly, happen all the time, but what happened to this unfortunate firm presents an excellent case study in regulators who simply do not wield their considerable prosecutorial discretion in…
FINRA Zoom Hearing Goes BOOM!
By Alan Wolper on
Attentive readers will recall that a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned in a preface to great post from Chris about expungement becoming an endangered creature due to changes in FINRA rule that I was about to embark on a two-week FINRA Enforcement hearing, all done by Zoom, by consent. I promised to provide some…
Can/Should FINRA Hearings Be Conducted Using Zoom?
By Alan Wolper on
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…
An Undisclosed Conflict Of Interest – By FINRA – Results In Bar Being Vacated
By Alan Wolper on
From time to time, I have lamented that FINRA does not hold itself to the same lofty standards to which it holds its members. I realize I am painting with a broad brush, as there are lots of folks at FINRA who do a great job, who are easy and reasonable to deal with, and…
FINRA Touts The Fact That Its Examinations Need Not Be “Fair”
By Alan Wolper on
While I feel I have enjoyed as much success defending respondents in FINRA Enforcement matters as anyone, I am still careful to caution clients who are unwilling to consider any settlement that going toe-to-toe with FINRA at a hearing is always a difficult proposition, even though they are presumed innocent and FINRA bears the burden…
FINRA’s “Massive” Discovery Failure Results In…Absolutely Nothing
By Alan Wolper 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
…
FINRA’s Heavy Hand Questioned…By FINRA
By Alan Wolper 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…
The Head-In-The-Sand Approach To Supervision: A Primer
By Alan Wolper on
There’s a claimant’s lawyer I’ve litigated against several times who is very good at his job, and who I personally like very much. Part of the reason for his success is that he is very engaging, so even when he utterly lacks any decent facts on which to base his claim – which is often…
What Else Is New? FINRA Skates Despite “Massive” Failure To Produce Documents
By Alan Wolper on
Let’s play pretend. Can you imagine what FINRA would do to a respondent broker-dealer in an Enforcement action that announced on Day Five of the hearing – i.e., during the “final phase” of the hearing – that – whoops! – it had forgotten to produce certain documents that it should have produced eight months before…