I would imagine that the point of FINRA releasing its list of exam priorities each year is to help firms who are actually going to be examined, by providing a glimpse into FINRA’s playbook so they can address, proactively, the issues they know FINRA will focus on. To be forewarned is to be forearmed, right? … Continue Reading
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Can FINRA Deliver On A Promise To Provide Meaningful Relief To Compliance Departments?
Posted in Compliance, FINRA, Outside business activities, Rule 3270As I have discussed before, there are some rule violations that are going to happen no matter what FINRA says about them, no matter how many Enforcement cases it brings, and no matter what BDs do to “detect and prevent” such violations. A prime example of such is outside business activities, or OBAs. The rule… Continue Reading
Will FINRA’s 8210 Madness Ever Stop?
Posted in Enforcement, FINRA, Rule 8210Once 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… Continue Reading
FINRA’s Exam Guidance Is A Big Yawn
Posted in Compliance, Enforcement, FINRA, SupervisionAs 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… Continue Reading
First Shot Fired In PIABA’s War On The Securities Industry
Posted in FINRA, PIABAA 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… Continue Reading
PIABA’s New President Is A Nice Guy, Sure, But He’s Hardly Your Friend
Posted in Arbitration, FINRA, PIABAI have stated more than once in these posts that among claimants’ counsel, I have perhaps the greatest respect for Andrew Stoltmann, a fellow Chicagoan. I am not saying that I ever agree with anything he has to say, because I don’t, but he is a gentleman, he acts ethically, he is fun to listen… Continue Reading
FINRA In The News, And Not In A Good Way
Posted in FINRAIt 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 headline: … Continue Reading
This Case Could Mean An End To Bars And Suspensions…Maybe
Posted in Disciplinary Process, Enforcement, FINRA, Sanctions, SECBear 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,… Continue Reading
FINRA’s Heavy Hand Questioned…By FINRA
Posted in Defenses, Disciplinary Process, Enforcement, FINRA, Rule 2010I 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… Continue Reading
The Equifax Breach May Be A Problem For More Than Just Equifax
Posted in Confidential customer information, Cybersecurity, FINRAAll 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… Continue Reading
What Is FINRA’s Job?
Posted in Compliance, FINRAA 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… Continue Reading
I Want HIS Lawyer!
Posted in Defenses, Disciplinary Process, Enforcement, SEC, SettlementsA little over a year ago, the SEC announced a stunning settlement with Merrill Lynch regarding its violation of SEC Rule 15c3-3, commonly known as the “Customer Protection Rule.” This is an important rule whose name gives away its purpose: it is designed to ensure that if a broker-dealer ever fails, customer assets can be… Continue Reading
Dawn Bennett Redefines “Spirited Defense” In Her SEC Case
Posted in Administrative Proceedings, Defenses, Disciplinary Process, SECThis one belongs in the “truth is stranger than fiction” category. By now, you are probably familiar with the exploits of Dawn Bennett, former hostess of her radio show, “Financial Myth Busting.” She was the one who the SEC permanently barred last year after she elected not to appear at her administrative hearing (after her… Continue Reading
The Head-In-The-Sand Approach To Supervision: A Primer
Posted in CCO, Defenses, Disciplinary Process, Enforcement, FINRA, SupervisionThere’s a claimant’s lawyer I’ve litigated against several times who is very good at his job, and who I personally like very much. Part of the reason for his success is that he is very engaging, so even when he utterly lacks any decent facts on which to base his claim – which is often… Continue Reading
FINRA’s Board Acts To Fix The Problem…That FINRA Created
Posted in Arbitration, Board of Governors, Enforcement, FINRASo, as you undoubtedly recall, in its typical reactive approach to regulation, FINRA has expressed concern – after having concerns expressed to it by others (none of whom are actually from the securities industry, of course) – about (1) the high number of registered reps working in the industry with spotty disciplinary records, and (2)… Continue Reading
Let The Sun Shine On FINRA’s Office Of Disciplinary Affairs
Posted in Disciplinary Process, FINRA, ODABack in the old days, back when it was still NASD and it bore some reasonable semblance of a true self-regulatory organization, the important decisions relating to the Enforcement process – the decision to issue a complaint, the decision to settle a case, and the decision in litigated matters that actually went to hearing –… Continue Reading
FINRA’s Annual Report: I Wish It Was Fake News
Posted in Annual Report, FINRAThis past week, FINRA very, very quietly released its Annual Report for 2016. Too quietly, as they say in the movies. No press release. No press conference. No media attention at all, hardly. As President Trump just asked about State Election Commissioners who refused to respond to a request from his Election Fraud taskforce for… Continue Reading
What Else Is New? FINRA Skates Despite “Massive” Failure To Produce Documents
Posted in Discovery, Enforcement, FINRA, Rule 8210, Rule 9251, UncategorizedLet’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… Continue Reading
Don’t Let The Revolving Door Hit You In The Butt
Posted in FINRA, Rule 9141, SECThere has been a lot of talk, especially given the relatively recent change in the Executive Branch in Washington, about the problem with the “revolving door,” a concept so wide in scope that it actually has its own Wikipedia page. It is defined to be the “movement of personnel between roles as legislators and regulators… Continue Reading
Open The Pod Bay Doors: Computers Are Here To Take Your Job
Posted in Compliance, FINRA, FintechI 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,… Continue Reading
Rogue Brokers: The Numbers Do Not Tell The Whole Story
Posted in FINRA, Registered Representative, Rogue repNot too long ago, I blogged a couple of times about the amount of attention that is suddenly being paid to the number of registered representatives with disciplinary histories working for FINRA member firms, i.e., the so-called recidivists (who used to be called “rogue reps”). Among the complaints I voiced was the fact that while… Continue Reading
FINRA Provides The Blueprint For Monitoring Outside Business Activities
Posted in Disciplinary Process, Disclosure, Enforcement, FINRA, Outside business activitiesOutside 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 to… Continue Reading
How The Fiduciary Rule May Impact Outside Business Activities
Posted in annuities, Fiduciary duty, Fiduciary Rule, Fiduciary StandardBecause fixed annuities and fixed life insurance are not securities, many broker-dealers treat the sales of these products by their registered reps as outside business activities. In that event, there is no obligation by the BD to supervise those sales, and they can be run directly with the issuing company and not through the broker-dealer. … Continue Reading
Where’s The Beef? The SEC Complains That Filing A SAR Isn’t Enough If It Skimps On Details
Posted in AML, Compliance, EnforcementMany of my clients chafe at the AML rule, given the cost of compliance and the even higher cost of defending an Enforcement action if the regulators conclude that red flags were somehow missed, or spotted but not dealt with adequately, or soon enough, or both, or spotting the red flags, responding to them, but… Continue Reading
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