I have been busy the last month getting ready for a big arbitration, and attending the first week of what looks like is going to be a four- or five-week slog when all is said and done. So, I am just catching up on some recent developments, and mulling over what might be of interest
Supervision
Ameriprise Learns The Hard Lesson That To Be Deemed “Reasonable,” A Supervisory System Actually Has To Work
By Alan Wolper on
Posted in SEC, Supervision
A little over a year ago, I blogged about a FINRA Enforcement action against an Ameriprise rep – but, notably, not Ameriprise – to highlight what a great job the firm did in ensuring that its sales force was not engaging in any undisclosed outside business activities. It had a robust supervisory procedure, with multiple…
Open The Pod Bay Doors: Computers Are Here To Take Your Job
By Alan Wolper on
I read recently that in the not-too-distant future, the practice of law by actual human beings will become a rarity, as computers will take over those jobs, because they will be able to do the work better, cheaper and faster. Speaking as a lawyer, I find that to be a somewhat troubling prospect. I mean,…
FINRA Provides The Blueprint For Monitoring Outside Business Activities
By Alan Wolper on
Outside business activities are in the news. In Reg Notice 17-20, FINRA announced that it was seeking comments in an effort to learn whether or not the existing rules governing OBAs are effective. (The comment period is open until late June, so if you have strong feelings on the subject, now is the time…
The Nuts And Bolts Of FINRA’s New Financial Exploitation Rule
By Michael Gross on
A few weeks ago, I posted a blog about FINRA’s new rule concerning senior investors. My take was largely that the rule made sense, but only to the extent that it provides protections for BDs that encounter the need to share otherwise confidential information about a customer due to concerns about the customer’s health…
As Berthel Fisher Just Learned, Those Who Don’t Know FINRA’s History Of Disciplinary Actions Are Doomed To Repeat It
By Alan Wolper on
I have often used these posts to lament the fact that FINRA consistently acts as an enforcement driven group of crazed examiners, hell-bent on writing firms up for technical violations, at best, uncaring about the dramatic ramifications of their seemingly ceaseless attack on well-meaning broker-dealers and their owners. While I still harbor those feelings, occasionally…
FINRA Tweaks The Sanction Guidelines Again And – Guess What? – It Wasn’t To Make Them Gentler
By Alan Wolper on
Remember a few weeks ago? Remember I blogged about Robert Cook, FINRA’s new CEO? And how he was saying all the right things about FINRA perhaps being juuuuust a bit too Enforcement oriented? I expressed hope – sincere but wary hope – that given his remarks, it was possible that the pendulum might actually start…
Supervision Requires More Than Trust; It Means Trust With Verification
By Alan Wolper on
Back in December, the State of Massachusetts filed a Complaint against LPL and one of its big producers alleging that the producer, Roger Zullo, defrauded his clients and lied to his supervisors in connection with the sale of variable annuities. What struck me when I read the Complaint, and what has still stuck with me,…
In AML World, The Need To File A SAR Can, Apparently, Be Too Obvious To Ignore
By Alan Wolper on
If you’re reading this, then you undoubtedly already know that FINRA and SEC are, simply, AML crazy. Rightly or wrongly, they are both focusing more than ever on broker-dealers’ fulfillment of their supervisory obligation to be sensitive to the laundry list of red flags first articulated in a Notice to Members back in 2002 that…
According To FINRA, “Culture Of Compliance” Is Not Only Definable, It’s Enforceable
By Alan Wolper on
Earlier this year, as part of its 2016 Examination Priorities, FINRA spent a lot time discussing the “culture of compliance” at broker-dealers, the notion that firms need to create an atmosphere where compliance with rules and regulations is more than just lip service, but, rather, where it is a priority established by firm management –…