FINRA Issues Sweep Letters About Alternative Trading Systems The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has put out a new round of sweeps letters asking for more information about its review of alternative trading systems. The SRO’s Trading Examinations Unit is reviewing the off-exchange trading venues. FINRA wants firms to provide information…
SRO Says Brokerage Can Institutional Customers PIP Data About ETPs Under Certain Conditions Financial Industry Regulatory Authority staff have determined that under certain conditions, broker-dealers are permitted to include pre-inception performance information in communications with institutional investors about exchange-traded products, also known as ETPs. Staffers said that FINRA Rule 2210,…
According to Securities and Exchange Commissioner Luis Aguilar, the growing number of registered investment advisers, the increasing complexity of the financial instruments they use, and the recent trends in securities examinations show that there is a need for the regulator to up the vigorousness of its investment adviser examinations and…
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission member Luis Aguilar is pressing the government to think about adopting rules that would limit or bar investment advisers and brokers from making customers sign away their right to file a securities fraud case. He made his statements in front of the he North America…
A FINRA arbitration panel is ordering ex-broker Karl Hahn, who previously worked with Bank of America Corp’s (BAC) Merrill Lynch (MER), Oppenheimer & Co. (OPY), and Deutsche Bank AG’s (DB) Deutsche Bank Securities, to pay investor Chase Bailey $11 million because he sustained about $6 million in losses allegedly caused…
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida is holding that an arbitration award granted to investors cannot be vacated under the Federal Arbitration Act just because an arbitrator exhibited obvious partiality when failing to reveal that he wrote a dissent in an unrelated arbitration that allegedly showed…
Over the years, the Texas courts have followed federal courts in that they are now showing a preference that business disputes be resolved in arbitration rather than with a trial. Many view arbitration as a less costly, faster, and more logical way to solve conflicts between a company’s employees and…
FINRA Unveils Telephone Mediation Pilot The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority says it now has a pilot program that allows parties with simplified cases to choose reduced-fee or pro bono phone mediation. Volunteers with arbitration claims involving $50,000 or under are welcome to participate. In cases involving damage claims of $25,000…
For the third time in two years, the US Supreme Court has stood up for arbitration agreements, overturning yet another decision by a state court. The case is Nitro-Lift Technologies v. Howard. The Oklahoma State Court had ruled that the non-compete provision in an employment arbitration agreement was unenforceable because…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is now making its arbitration process available to all registered investment advisers. The SRO’s arbitration forum has in the past been for member broker-dealers, but not IA’s, to resolve disagreements. (That said, IAs that are dually registered with FINRA have had to arbitrate via the…