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.
Office of Hearing Officers
The 411 On FINRA Rule 4111
By Alan Wolper on
Posted in FINRA
Well, Memorial Day is just past us, so we all know what that means: it’s time for FINRA to conduct its first annual assessment of its member firms to determine whether they should be branded a “Restricted” firm under new Rule 4111, with all the benefits and privileges appurtenant thereto. Given that it’s pretty clear…
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…
Contrary To What FINRA Believes, Rule 8210 Is Not A Search Warrant
By Alan Wolper 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…
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
…
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…
Some Amusing OHO Decisions
By Michael Gross on
As a former member of FINRA Enforcement’s Litigation Department and a current practitioner in FINRA regulatory matters, I have read my fair share of decisions from the Office of Hearing Officers (OHO). I recently read the Southeast Investments/Black decision, which was issued in March. There is some good stuff in there – from an entertainment…
Is There A Catch-22 To Fighting FINRA Charges?
By Michael Gross on
Here is a fascinating analysis by my partner, Michael Gross, of FINRA’s twisted logic when it comes to sanctions: your very decision not to admit liability and to put FINRA to its proof can, and will, be held against you when it comes time to determine the appropriate sanctions. Or will it? – Alan
The…
Procedural Motions In FINRA Enforcement Actions: An Exercise In Futility
By Alan Wolper on
Defending a FINRA Enforcement action is not easy. This stems principally from the fact that FINRA simply won’t file a complaint in the first place if they believe that there’s any realistic chance they will not win the case. Thus, they expect to win every time they do file a complaint, and perhaps not unreasonably…
(Another) Landslide Victory: FINRA Enforcement Offers ZERO Evidence Of Fraud
By Chris Seps on
At the end of last week, we received our second[1] decisive win in a FINRA Enforcement case in a matter of days. Following a two-day hearing back in July, the hearing Panel dismissed all charges against our clients Paul J. McIntyre and MSC-BD, LLC. While any victory is nice, and doing justice for a…