BrokeAndBroker.com Blog by Bill Singer Esq WEEK IN REVIEW

February 10, 2018

Sterne Agee Broker's IPO Trading In Away Account Earns FINRA Sanctions (BrokeAndBroker.com Blog) http://www.brokeandbroker.com/3815/sterne-agee-ipo/
Word has it that there's been a surge in initial public offerings. I'm not going to swear by that but I have heard some Wall Street types tell me that there are still companies looking to go public these days. Of course that was before those two 1,000 point drops in the Dow Jones but, who knows, another day, another 1,000 point move higher or lower and Bitcoin will triple in value and then halve. Be that as it may, today's BrokeAndBroker.com Blog analyzes a recent Financial Industry Regulatory Authority settlement involving a stockbroker, his away account, and his so-so results in buying and selling IPOs.

Rankles Raised In FINRA Expungement (BrokeAndBroker.com Blog) http://www.brokeandbroker.com/3813/finra-expungement-triad/
A broker-dealer's customer complains. It happens. Not all such complaints, however, allege misconduct by a stockbroker -- sometimes, customers are unhappy with the slow payment of dividends or interest, or a lousy online interface, or the firm's margin policies. In industry parlance, not every complaint is about "sales practices." In a recent FINRA expungement arbitration, a registered rep seeks to expunge from her industry record what was disclosed as something that looks a lot like a customer complaint about sales practices but for the fact that the employer broker-dealer, the customer, and an independent FINRA arbitrator all seem to agree that no such allegations were ever made. 

He's Back!!! SEC Denies Second Stay Request By Bruce Zipper. (BrokeAndBroker.com Blog) http://www.brokeandbroker.com/3811/sec-zipper-stay/
In the Matter of the Application of Bruce Zipper for Review of Action Taken by FINRA, (Order  Denying Second Motion for Stay, Securities and Exchange Commission, '34 Act Rel. No. 82633; Admin. Proc. File No. 3-17963 / February 5, 2018), Zipper has again asked for a stay pending his appeal of FINRA action denying him permission to continue to associate with a FINRA member firm despite his statutory disqualification.

GUEST BLOG: The Department Of Justice's Coming Out Party By Darrell Whitman (BrokeAndBroker.com Blog) http://www.brokeandbroker.com/3809/doj-darrell-whitman/
In 2010, attorney Darrell Whitman became a Regional Investigator for the San Francisco Region Office of Whistleblower Protection Programs ("OWWP"), which was part of the United States Department of Labor's ("DOL's") Occupational Safety and Health Administration  ("OSHA"). Beginning in 2011, Whitman and others in the San Francisco OWWP office complained that they were being hamstrung and short-circuited in their efforts to protect whistleblowers against perceived retaliation -- essentially being prevented from doing the job that they were being paid to do. In May 2015, Whitman was fired. How ironic that Whitman, an OWWP investigator charged with protecting whistleblowers from retaliation, found himself the victim of alleged retaliation by OWWP. In response to his termination, Whitman sued. READ the UPDATE of his saga

Historic Federal Reserve Restrictions On Wells Fargo (BrokeAndBroker.com Blog) http://www.brokeandbroker.com/3808/federal-reserve-wells-fargo/
This is what effective regulation looks like!!! Federal Reserve Press Release restricting Wells Fargo's growth.