Articles Posted in Employment Law

Maybe you were caught using a fake ID when you were in college or maybe you got into a heated exchange after a fender bender. Each of these could lead to a variety of criminal charges that vary by state and by prosecutorial discretion. Criminal charges have obvious negative consequences. Many people however – even…

On November 19, 2020, FINRA published a noteworthy arbitration award for a Herskovits PLLC client in FINRA Arbitration No. 20-01054. This case has garnered significant attention in the press due to the fact that Wells Fargo was ordered to pay our client’s attorneys’ fees. Stories about the case have been reported in AdvisorHub, InvestmentNews and…

On September 22, 2020, FINRA submitted a proposed rule change to the SEC. The proposed rule furthers FINRAs assault on the expungement process by imposing stringent requirements on expungement requests filed during a customer arbitration by or on behalf of the associated person (“on-behalf-of request”) or filed by a registered representative separate from a customer…

On September 9, 2020, FINRA issued an AWC resolving an investigation with FA Patrick J. Knox. At first blush, the investigation seemed to resolve a rather straightforward Reg S-P violation. FINRA accused Knox of printing his customer list in anticipation of joining a new broker-dealer and providing the list to his prospective employer. Apparently, the…

Over the past year FINRA’s Office of Financial Innovation held meetings with over two dozen market participants, including broker-dealers, academics, technology vendors and service providers in order to better understand the use of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) in the securities industry. This past June FINRA issued a 20 page report which it described as an “initial…

On May 8, 2020, FINRA published an interesting AWC in which they suspended a quantitative research analyst for breaching internal policies relating to the treatment of confidential and proprietary information. Although FINRA will aggressively pursue Reg S-P violations, in which nonpublic confidential information pertaining to a customer — such as a social security number or…

On April 21, 2020, California’s Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District created a significant carve-out to the absolute immunity standard previously applicable to Form U5 defamation claims in California. The full opinion in Tilkey v. Allstate Insurance Co., Super. Ct. No. 37-2016-00015545-CU-OE-CTL (2020) is available here. This case significantly changes the landscape for Form U5…

This week’s FINRA settlements report AWC’s in which FINRA hit two FAs for some misguided efforts toward good customer service. In the Matter of Sandra Gose Stevens, FINRA Matter No. 2018058123701 Stevens was formerly registered with MML Investors Services, LLC, which terminated her in April 2018 concerning an alleged “signature irregularity.” FINRA thereafter initiated an…

Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like FINRA has ramped up its caseload for undisclosed outside business activities and unapproved private securities transactions. This week alone, FINRA resolved two such cases in FINRA Matter No. 2018058026701, Alexander Jon James and FINRA Matter No. 2019061490801, Barry Robert Bode. Before analyzing the cases, it’s worth re-visiting…

Courts call a lifetime bar “the securities industry equivalent of capital punishment.” PAZ Sec. Inc. v. SEC, 494 F.3d 1059, 1065 (D.C. Cir. 2007). It is a draconian measure which not only permanently removes you from the securities industry but also subjects you to “statutory disqualification” under Section 3(a)(39)(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of…