Most brokers despise the fact that they need to re-take their examinations if they are not employed with a broker-dealer for 2 years or if they are not associated with a member firm. Now, FINRA comes to the rescue with a new proposal to permit registered representatives to avoid re-taking their exams for up to
So you really want to change firms. Do you have a restrictive covenant or a non-compete? If so, your transition may be a little more complicated. To learn what restrictions may apply to you, check out our 50-state survey on restrictive covenants.
In the hectic world of financial services, registered representatives and investment adviser representatives are always looking to increase their assets under management. At what cost? Are there situations where you would be better off just saying no to accepting that one additional client?
In my many years of defending representatives and advisers from customer complaints,
Every time that I start a FINRA arbitration, I find myself having the same internal debate; did we pick the right person to serve as the arbitration chair. Unfortunately, you will not know the answer to that question until after your arbitration begins, or, more likely, after the award is issued. FINRA has proposed a
If you thought the SEC and FINRA were serious about elder issues, welcome to the Alabama, Indiana and Vermont. Each has focused on elder abuse issues.
These states will have mandatory reporting to state officials in instances involving the disabled or those over 65 years of age. They will also allow advisors to cease disbursing
Anyone in a professional service business, like being a stock broker, have been faced with a client who decides to make a stupid decision. But the issue we all face is when that decision results in the client losing money; who is to be held accountable.
Fortunately, the law does not require you to stop
Unfortunately, a bad broker does not take on the same attributes as a fine wine. Bad brokers do rarely improve with time.
At least this was the recent message of Robert Ketchum, head of FINRA. But should all brokers who have any pings on their record be foreclosed from the industry? Certainly not, but what
It was great speaking at the May 17 New York NSCP regional conference on risk issues facing firms where Ernie Badway and I discussed cyber-security, risk issues, regulatory matters, issues involving elder clients and ways compliance personnel can protect themselves. For those of you who could not make the conference, these topics are frequently discussed
In this day and age of instant information and overstretched supervisory personnel, you have to be careful to avoid forgoing a very useful supervisory tool. Meeting face to face with those associated persons under your supervision on a regular basis could mean the difference between routing out rogue advisors and being subject to regulatory and
Unlike lawyers, especially litigators, the business model of a financial advisor is not dependent upon clients being stupid. Instead, financial advisors depend on their clients making smart decisions after full disclosure and consideration after speaking with their financial advisor. So what do you do when clients make stupid decisions?
In defending brokers over the years,