October 28, 2017
It can't be that easy, we think. It can't be that simple, we believe. In the end we're wrong on both counts. Apparently, it doesn't require much ingenuity or stealth for the employee of a FINRA member firm's affiliated bank to generate an ATM card without a customer's authorization. The one thing that is apparently quite easy and simple for FINRA, however, is to protect the name of the affiliated banks of its member firms. Sure, there are times when such an affiliate should not have its name published in a FINRA document, however, I don't think that this is such a time. You read today's settlement and see how you feel.
READ http://www.brokeandbroker.com/3641/finra-affiliated-bank/
Sometimes you just get caught in the middle of things. Take today's featured FINRA regulatory settlement in which a stockbroker decided to leave his then-current brokerage firm in December 2015 but, you know, one thing and then another apparently popped up and the target date of actually resigning in January 2016 slowly kept moving until March 2016. Funny thing about delays, they have a way of causing all sorts of unforeseen and unexpected problems. For example, what do you do with a customer's order that is presented to you while at your soon-to-be-former-firm? Do you enter it there or do you forward the biz to your future employer? Some would answer the question based upon loyalty to the firm that's paying you. Others would say that you feather your nest of the future. FINRA has the final say.
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The saying goes: Charity begins at home. For many employees, however, charity seems to begin at work. You got colleagues asking you to participate in an event against a disease or in support of a political cause, or to donate X dollars for every mile they walk. At some jobs, the employer agrees to match various charitable donations or comps you for volunteering your time. Of course, try to do something nice and it inevitably attracts those among us who see an opportunity to make a few bucks -- as a recent FINRA regulatory settlement demonstrates.
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In a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") Arbitration Statement of Claim filed in November 2016, Claimant Koontz asserted one cause of action: "misrepresentations." Yeah, just one word of complaint. What caught my attention about today's featured FINRA arbitration, however, was its caption -- and what invoked my ire was a lack of content and context about what appears to be an interesting TOD dispute.
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http://www.brokeandbroker.com/3632/finra-suitability/
When folks attempt to decipher a given Wall Street regulation, they often start with what they think is the "commonsense" answer. That's a waste of time. Go directly to the actual Rule (assuming that you know which one covers your issue) and start reading the verbose, ponderous, and confounding language.
No, it's not you; no matter how many times you read that crap, it still doesn't make sense.
What should you do?
If you ask five compliance officers, you'll likely get a consistent "Don't do that."
If you ask five regulatory lawyers, you'll get ten different opinions at $750 an hour (cash only and we'd like two forms of photo ID).
Thus, the stage is set for today's BrokeAndBroker.com Blog consideration of FINRA's "Suitability Rule" READ http://www.brokeandbroker.com/3632/finra-suitability/
