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The Wall Street Journal on FINRA – Asleep on Duty Again

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published a front page story detailing the results of an analysis that they conducted examining the efficacy of FINRA’s monitoring of the bankruptcies and criminal charges against securities brokers.  FINRA is the regulator of first resort of the brokerage industry and brokers are required to disclose to FINRA bankruptcies, and most criminal charges and convictions.  Certain criminal convictions will obviously result in the loss of a securities broker’s privileges to sell securities.  Bankruptcies are often a red-flag of financial duress or irresponsibility and, according to the WSJ, there is a significant correlation of bankruptcies and regulatory violations in its analysis. […]

By |March 7th, 2014|Categories: Washington|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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FINRA: The Fraud That Keeps On Taking

The latest FINRA statistics have been released and show that FINRA continues to do a fantastic job in protecting its members from abused investors seeking redress through the mandatory arbitration process. Customers received “some” recovery in 42% of the cases which went to hearing in 2013. Of course, the vast majority of those customers received a pittance of their losses. The investors go on with their lives looking for new ways to educate their children and hoping manna falls from heaven to fund their retirement. In the meantime, the highly paid FINRA executives who are responsible to their members to maintain this fraud on the public continue to bask in the glory of their high paying jobs. […]

By |February 28th, 2014|Categories: Washington|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
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Demand Full Rights for the Elderly

FINRA has followed the lead of courts in most states in providing for expedited hearings in cases involving elderly clients. This is not a recent change but is a long standing policy supported by numerous written communications. FINRA considers anyone over 65 to be an “elder” and someone who is entitled to expedited handling of their case. […]

By |February 20th, 2014|Categories: Washington|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
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Confidentiality Clause: A Settling Condition in Securities Arbitration

Confidentiality clauses in securities arbitration settlement agreements are normally requested by brokerage houses and agreed to by claimants as a condition of settlement of a securities arbitration dispute.  Claimants are prohibited from disclosing anything regarding the settlement, particularly the facts underlying the arbitration and the amount of money being paid. […]

By |February 5th, 2014|Categories: Washington|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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Wake Up Your Congressman to Wall Street Abuse

Board members of the Public Investor’s Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA)  are going to Washington in early March to meet with a number of Congressional representatives. The purpose of the trip is to call to the legislator’s attention the systematic abuse investors are subjected to by Wall Street firms. Recent statistics show that investors bringing arbitration claims against broker dealers win approximately 40% of the time and when they do “win”, they receive approximately 37% of the losses they were seeking. These are outrageous statistics that speak to a pattern of corruption and deceit. […]

By |February 3rd, 2014|Categories: Washington|Tags: , , , , , , |1 Comment
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FINRA Mesmerized by the Migratory Pattern of Cockroaches

Throughout 2013, partly in response to critical reports from the Wall Street Journal and pressure from federal legislators, FINRA announced that it would be increasing its efforts to examine the activities of securities brokers with track records of violations and investor complaints, including those who move in clusters from one troubled firm to another, a practice referred to as ‘cockroaching.’ […]

By |January 22nd, 2014|Categories: Washington|Tags: , , , , |1 Comment
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