The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") has, in recent months, increased its regulatory focus on investor awareness regarding closed-end funds ("CEFs"). In October of last year, FINRA issued an Investor Alert entitled "Closed-End Fund Distributions: Where is the Money Coming From." The alert sought to educate investors about CEFs and, specifically, about the sources of the periodic guaranteed distributions that make CEFs attractive to investors. This alert followed on the heels (relatively speaking) of six-figure fines levied against Merrill Lynch and UBS in ...
FINRA has submitted a proposal to the SEC to adopt FINRA Rule 2243 (Disclosure and Reporting Obligations Related to Recruitment Practices). In FINRA's words, Rule 2243 would require, in some cases, "specific disclosure by the recruiting member firm of the financial incentives a representative receives as part of his or her relationship with the new firm. The recruiting member firm would be required to provide the disclosure before a former retail customer of the representative makes a final determination to transfer an account to the new firm." Specifically, disclosure would be ...
Effective July 5, 2014, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board ("MSRB") implements a consolidation and re-write of its prior fail-dealing Rules and Guidance for municipal securities dealers. On March 7, the SEC approved: - Revisions to Rule G-19 on suitability. The revisions harmonize the Rule with FINRA's suitability Rule 2111, including its "reasonable-basis," "customer-specific" - including investment profile, "quantitative" (f/k/a churning), "investment strategies" (including explicit hold recommendations), with accompanying technical changes ...
This past February, FINRA issued an acceptance, waiver and consent ("AWC") against a firm and its global anti-money laundering ("AML") Compliance Officer ("CO") for failures in AML compliance regarding brokerage and custodial DVP transactions in penny stocks and unregistered securities through omnibus bank-customer accounts in "known bank-secrecy havens, such as Switzerland, Guernsey and Jersey." FINRA censured the firm and fined it $8 million, and issued an individual one-month suspension and $25,000 fine to its AML CO. The firm is exiting its equity brokerage ...
On February 25, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board ("MSRB") proposed new Rule G-44 imposing a supervision and compliance requirements for Municipal Advisors ("MA's"). The Dodd-Frank Act imposed a new regulatory regime for MA's. New Rule G-44 imposes requirements familiar from broker-dealer regulation, including:
A supervisory system reasonably designed to assure compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
Written supervisory procedures ("WSP's") tailored to a registrant's business;
As an investor, you should perform due diligence prior to having an out-of-state attorney represent you in a securities dispute. In an era where social media provides multiple channels for the advertising of an attorney's skill sets, an investor should take heed before making the decision to engage out-of-state counsel to represent them. For example, out-of-state attorneys must either hire local counsel or satisfy several requirements before appearing at the arbitration, or even at any mediation, of securities related matters in the following states: California, Florida ...
Facing an examination or investigation by the Financial Industry and Regulatory Authority (FINRA) can be a stressful and intimidating experience for even the most seasoned financial advisor. Understanding the oversight role FINRA plays and the process can help you to properly prepare and reduce the risk of adverse consequences. If you find yourself the subject of a FINRA inquiry, here are some tips to help you navigate the process:
Determine The Subject Of The Inquiry - If you find yourself involved in an inquiry, FINRA usually will send you a letter requesting information and ...
Reacting in part to recent data-breaches and cyber-attacks on larger retailers, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") is conducting a targeted examination of some 20 broker-dealer member firms' compliance and risk-management approaches to cyber-security, aimed at increasing regulators' understanding of the cyber-security risk environment and various approaches and methods used throughout the industry. Wall Street conducted its second comprehensive cyber-security drill, Quantum Dawn 2, just this past July. The after-action study and related ...
On January 2, 2014, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") published its annual regulatory and examination priorities letter for 2014. In the publication, FINRA addressed a number of matters, including suitability of recommendations, addressing issues involving the solicitation, advertising, due diligence and suitability of private placements, and focusing its attention on "recidivist brokers." FINRA has always addressed the issue of suitability. Specifically, FINRA Rule 2111 explains the requirements, which are further explained in Regulatory ...
PIABA, the securities-investor plaintiff's bar, issued an October 16th press release roundly criticizing industry self-regulatory rules allowing a broker to seek expungement of a customer-claim from her permanent record. PIABA's release relies on blunt statistics showing that about 60% of arbitration awards containing the word "expungement" granted that relief (with a higher 89-96% rate for awards entered on settlements). The group failed to mention, though, 2009 reforms requiring arbitrators to make an affirmative finding (after a hearing) that:
In Regulatory Notice 13-40, FINRA announced that the SEC had approved amendments to its Discovery Guide. The Discovery Guide applies to customer cases (rather than intra-industry cases) and outlines presumptively discoverable documents that the parties to an arbitration should exchange without FINRA or an arbitrator intervening. The amendments concern three areas: (1) electronic discovery, (2) product cases, and (3) affirmations. First, the Discovery Guide was amended to clarify that electronic files are "documents" under the meaning of the Discovery Guide and that ...
Arbitration is an alternative to the traditional lawsuit filed in court in order to resolve a dispute. It is a formal dispute resolution process in which the parties-customers, brokers, or brokerage firms-select a neutral, third party (or parties) called an arbitrator to decide the matter. In the securities area, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) is a self-regulatory organization and the largest regulator of securities firms doing business with the public. Any arbitration filed that involves securities will likely be filed with FINRA, which then ...
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