Fans of this blog (or, at least, readers of this blog who are fans of Jeopardy) will no doubt remember Alan’s prior post, published a few weeks ago, and discussing a recent case that FINRA’s Department of Enforcement brought against one of our clients. From the very beginning, we, as her counsel, were both
Office of Hearing Officers
If You’re a Respondent, Time is NOT on Your Side
There was a decision this week from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on an appeal of a decision by a respondent who – stop the presses! – lost an SEC administrative proceeding, and then lost his appeal to the SEC. Montford and Company, Inc. v. SEC, No. 14-1126 (July 10, 2015). One of…
FINRA’s Code Of Procedure: Unfair To The Gander
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…
To Mediate or Not: Arbitration v. Enforcement
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…
Narrative Answers in Enforcement Proceedings: Practical, Yet Impossible
At a recent industry conference in New York, members of FINRA’s Office of Hearing Officers gathered to discuss current issues and topics relevant to FINRA disciplinary hearings. During one of the sessions, a Hearing Officer panelist lamented the format of the Answers he typically receives from the respondents in his cases. Almost without exception, respondents…