There are lots of FINRA rules, so many that some don’t get the attention they deserve because others, like the suitability rule or the supervision rule, generally hog the limelight. Moreover, some rules have such narrow application that you may not realize they even exist because they impact only a very few people or entities.
FINRA
How Do You Make a Million Dollars? Become Part of FINRA Senior Management!
By UB Greensfelder on
I’m not sure that I’m as excited as Navin Johnson was when the new phone books were delivered — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7aIf1YnbbU – but I was pretty happy when FINRA published its 2014 Year in Review and Financial Report. That’s because, at a minimum, I get to enjoy the part where it reveals the compensation paid…
FINRA’s (Mostly) New Background Check Rule Goes Into Effect July 1
By UB Greensfelder on
As everyone who studies FINRA’s Regulatory Notices is already well aware, two days from now, FINRA’s rule requiring background checks on prospective registered representatives goes into effect. A lot of what the new rule mandates is not new, but, as there are some things that clearly were not required before, it is worth taking a…
FINRA Got It Right – The New Definition of a Non-Public Arbitrator
By UB Greensfelder on
Posted in Arbitration, FINRA
By now, it should be clear, we are oft to criticize FINRA in this blog. Much of that criticism is self-inflicted by, in our view, their unfair or unreasonable decisions. But, in a departure from the norm, I want to recognize an instance when FINRA is getting something right.
Effective this Friday, there will be…
FINRA’s Code Of Procedure: Unfair To The Gander
By UB Greensfelder on
We have complained before in this blog about some of the obvious inequities associated with the FINRA Enforcement process that disfavor respondents. But I heard of a new one this week from a colleague, so I thought I would take the opportunity to revisit the issue.
While there are several things problematic about the Code…
BrokerCheck: Please, Sir, May I Have Some More?
By UB Greensfelder on
FINRA recently announced a multi-million dollar ad campaign to increase public awareness of BrokerCheck, in an effort to increase the number of investors who actually use it. I had a few initial thoughts.
First, as I have observed before, it is hardly a secret that BrokerCheck does not serve as the basis for the vast…
To Mediate or Not: Arbitration v. Enforcement
By Chris Seps on
I recently had two clients, both respondents in pending matters – ask me the same question in the same day: should I mediate this case? The answers I gave them differed dramatically, not just because the facts of each case were very different, but because one case was a customer arbitration, where we are defending…
Day Two of FINRA’s Annual Conference
By UB Greensfelder on
I wish I was able to report some fireworks, or something semi-controversial, but FINRA and its hand-picked panelists managed to avoid saying anything particularly remarkable in any way. If you have never attended one of these conferences, and think that people come to learn cutting edge strategies, forget it. It is all very basic, very…
Day One of FINRA’s Annual Conference
By UB Greensfelder on
Here are my thoughts after Day One.
At a minimum, you would have to admit that FINRA has a sense of humor: the song they played when Rick Ketchum, FINRA’s Chairman, was introduced to give his keynote speech was “Why Can’t We Be Friends,” the 1975 song by War. Predictably, there were few laughs after…
Notes From The Annual FINRA Conference
By UB Greensfelder on
Posted in FINRA
I am in DC, to attend the annual FINRA conference that starts tomorrow morning. I have been to many of these over the years, formerly as the Director of NASD’s Atlanta District Office, but, over the last ten years, as a lawyer who defends brokers and broker-dealers against, among other things, FINRA allegations of misconduct.…