Once again, Rule 8210 has me frustrated. And angry. Well, not the rule itself, but the aggressive manner in which FINRA continues to wield it, and how its scope is interpreted by hearing panels called upon to consider cases involving what seem to me, at least, to be troublesome uses of Rule 8210.
Let’s start…
As promised, FINRA has released its first Report outlining common findings from its examinations, in an effort to help member firms comply with the rules and, presumably, avoid problems that other firms encountered. A noble idea, especially for an entity not exactly known (at least lately) for its proactive measures to assist BDs with their…
Michael discusses the differences in examiners — and, potentially — examination results from District Office to District Office. Remember, however, that such differences aren’t supposed to exist! That’s why the Office of Disciplinary Affairs exists. I suppose the question is whether the ODA is doing its appointed task of achieving consistency throughout FINRA. – Alan…
A week or so ago, I highlighted in a post the acceptance speech of PIABA’s incoming president, Andrew Stoltmann, in which he announced his intent to wage “war” on the securities industry. Bluster aside, Andrew has been true to his word. His opening volley is an attack on the public governors who sit on FINRA’s…
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…
It has been said that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but I wonder if FINRA feels that way after having been featured in a number of less-than-favorable, or at least curious, media stories over the last couple of weeks.
First, two weeks ago, Bruce Kelly of Investment News ran a story with this…
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,…
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…
All of you who use Equifax to conduct a part of your CIP responsibilities, raise your hands. Ok, now, only to those of you whose hands are in the air: how many of you have checked your firm’s incident response plan to determine the steps that need to be taken in the event of a…
A client of mine bought a BD, thereby requiring him to go through the CMA process. It was a very small firm, with fewer than ten registered reps. He was a newly minted 24, so he had other, more experienced principals on board to handle all supervisory responsibilities. His job, as outlined in the firm’s…
