BrokeAndBroker Blog by Bill Singer Thanksgiving Holiday RECAP

November 29, 2014


It's the day before Thanksgiving and two days before Black Friday, that mother of all shopping days.  In the spirit of that warm and fuzzy day when we all surge through the small door at the mall and proceed to elbow, punch, and maim each other as we make the mad dash for the one flatscreen television that is on sale, I offer a mixed-media holiday extravaganza. We start with the tale of the Charles Schwab registered representative entrepreneur who did some shopping on the job but on the side. We end with three versions of that great blues tune by B.B. King, Butterfield Blues Band, and Fleetwood Mac (with Peter Green): "I've Got A Mind To Give Up Living And Go Shopping Instead. READ, WATCH, LISTEN


Power of Attorney. Executor. Beneficiary. Those are all terms that should set off alarms for any registered representative asked to accept such a role for a customer. And even if the lights aren't flashing and the bells are ringing in your head, rest assured that something will light up and sound off in your firm's compliance department -- and ultimately at an industry regulator. Yes, you can, under certain circumstances, accept such roles; but you better make sure you're up to snuff with both your firm's compliance rule and industry regulators' regulations. Adding fuel to that compliance and regulatory fire, we have a recent case in which we add the volatile mix of a signatory role over bank accounts and service as an agent in a healthcare directive. READ


This is a three part BrokeAndBroker Blog commentary. Get a cup of coffee and find yourself a nice donut. Okay . . . now, sit down and make a modest investment of your time. By way of spoiler alert: FINRA  settled charges involving records that were altered during an in-house audit at UBS. It's not so much what's said by FINRA about this misconduct that has Bill Singer apoplectic (after all, it doesn't take that much to get Bill upset), it's what is not said by FINRA that underscores so much of the nonsense and silliness that has become Wall Street regulation. READ: