As part of the “National Senior Investor Initiative”, in 2013 FINRA and the SEC conducted 44 examinations of brokerage firms that focused on how firms conduct business with senior investors (defined as age 65 and older) as they prepare for and enter retirement. A newly issued report gives the results. The exams found that among…
Continue reading ›We are sometimes asked whether FINRA arbitrations are public. Anyone can go to a courthouse and observe a hearing or trial unless there are good reasons for the court to order the proceeding closed to the public. However, FINRA arbitration hearings are private proceedings. That means that only the parties and their attorneys, expert witnesses…
Continue reading ›FINRA announced on March 26, 2015 that it had fined brokerage firm Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. $2.5 million and ordered it to pay $1.25 million in restitution based on failing to supervise its former registered representative Mark Hotton. Hotton was permanently barred from the securities industry in August, 2013 after stealing money from his clients…
Continue reading ›On March 25, the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA) released its study of confusing advertising messages by major broker-dealer firms like Allstate, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Berthel Fisher, Ameriprise Financial, Merrill Lynch, Fidelity Investments, Wells Fargo, and Charles Schwab. While these firms advertise that they put their clients’ interest first, excerpts from FINRA arbitration filings…
Continue reading ›Investor Choice. Since 1987, when the Supreme Court decided McMahon v. Shearson Lehman Brothers, investors have been denied their Constitutional right to a jury trial. Instead, if they have lost money through the fraud or negligence of a FINRA-licensed stockbroker, financial advisor or brokerage firm, investors are required to bring their cases through the FINRA…
Continue reading ›The FINRA Investor Education Foundation issued a new research report, “Non-Traditional Costs of Financial Fraud,” based on a survey of 600 self-reported fraud victims. The survey details the emotional tolls and indirect costs (bounced checks, lost wages, lost opportunities, bankruptcy filings) that may come from losing money in a fraud. Victims who lost the greater…
Continue reading ›FINRA’s 2015 Exam Priorities Kudos to FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) for issuing its 2015 “exam priorities” letter on January 6, 2015. FINRA is the self-regulatory organization of the financial services industry that oversees the conduct of securities brokerage firms and their licensed stock brokers. Part of FINRA’s job is to examine brokerage firms…
Continue reading ›Banks Law Office, PC. is pleased to learn today that FINRA has chosen Richard Berry to replace Linda Fienberg as the new President of FINRA Dispute Resolution beginning December 1. Mr. Berry replaces Linda Fienberg who will retire in November after 18 years at the helm of Dispute Resolution. Our firm has known Rick Berry…
Continue reading ›Investment News reported today that SWS Financial Services is facing charges regarding its sale of variable annuity applications. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) complaint alleges that SWS gave the go ahead on numerous variable annuity applications without principal review for suitability. FINRA requires that firms have supervisory systems and written procedures to supervise VA…
Continue reading ›It is still going to be too easy for arbitrators to grant expungment when they only hear the broker’s unchallenged testimony and evidence Robert Banks was quoted today in Investment News Daily commenting on a proposed rule that FINRA sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. The rule would prevent FINRA members who…
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