FINRA Lawyer Blog

In a recent report, the Wall Street Journal said FINRA’s investments are underperforming. The self-regulatory organization boasts a $1 billion yearly budget, and it easily collects over $100 million per year through the imposition of fines. According to WSJ journalists, throughout its existence, FINRA’s $1.6 billion investment portfolio has yielded $440 million less than what…

Aspiring brokers will no longer need a firm to sponsor them in order to take FINRA’s competency exams. The Securities and Exchange Commission has just approved FINRA Regulatory Notice 17-30, which will make this and other changes effective within a year. According to FINRA, the rule change aims to: adopt consolidated FINRA registration rules; restructure…

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has just released its yearly Enforcement Report. Although NASAA is an international association of all state, provincial and territorial securities regulators in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the annual report is focused on US jurisdictions. According to data included in the document, there were more enforcement actions…

The SEC has accused two former Alexander Capital LP brokers, William Gennity and Rocco Roveccio of engaging in unlawful trading and deception that caused their customers to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars, while they earned a comparable amount in fees. Gennity and Roveccio both worked at Alexander Capital from mid 2012 till October 2014.…

“Arbitrators have a unique, distinct role in ensuring that customer dispute information is expunged from the CRD system only when it has no meaningful investor protection or regulatory value.” FINRA (September, 2017) In a new push for closer scrutiny over expungements, FINRA has just updated its Notice to Arbitrators and Parties on Expanded Expungement Guidance.…

FINRA announced it has just fined C.L. King & Associates $750,000. According to the Regulatory Authority´s decision, the broker-dealer has negligently made “material misrepresentations and omissions to issuers in connection with the firm’s redemptions of debt securities on behalf of a hedge fund customer.” This was allegedly done in connection with the hedge fund customer´s…

Once in a while, regulators and courts take actions that have no precedent, but which may influence justice over time. That is the case of a recent ruling from a Florida federal judge, who ordered a defendant to disclose that he had “violated commodity laws” whenever he writes or speaks about commodity trading in the…

During a recent Financial Services Subcommittee oversight hearing, both Democrat and Republican lawmakers raised concerns before FINRA CEO Robert Cook. Some of the issues discussed were the Regulatory Authority’s standing as a private entity and its handling of fine proceeds, which hit a record $173 million in 2016. One of the main criticisms voiced by…

The last few years have seen an improvement in economic activity in the US. After median family net worth remained stagnant between 2010 and 2013, house prices are now rising, corporate equity prices are also on the rise. But how does that translate in terms of traded stock ownership? In order to better understand the…

Ironridge Global Partners LLC has agreed to pay $4.4 million in disgorgement to settle claims that it incurred violations of the Exchange Act when its subsidiary Ironridge Global IV distributed billions of microcap shares without being a registered broker. According to the SEC order, Ironridge violated Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act, which “prohibits a…