Posts belonging to Category Stockbroker Standards of Conduct
Posted by Alan PerryonApril 28, 2014
FINRA’s system for revealing red flags about brokers may not disclose all the information that it is supposed to, according to a Wall Street Journal article by Jean Eaglesham and Rob Barry (March 7, 2014). A report by FINRA’s BrokerCheck should include information about felony charges and convictions, personal bankruptcy petitions filed within 10 years, […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Disciplinary Actions, Employment Issues, Investor Rights, Regulatory Developments, Smart Investing Tools, Stockbroker Standards of Conduct
Posted by Page PerryonAugust 31, 2012
The SEC has found that most investors understand very little about the financial products they buy. In the wake of the financial crisis, Congress, suspecting that the financial illiteracy of ordinary investors played a role in the crisis, commissioned a study by the SEC as part of the Dodd-Frank mandate. The SEC has completed its […]
Categories: A General Overview, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Stockbroker Standards of Conduct, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonJuly 17, 2012
A new Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rule (Rule 2111) significantly broadens stockbroker duties owed to customers. The rule, which took effect July 9, 2012, is expected to weaken or eliminate certain arguments brokerage firms use to try to deflect liability (“New FINRA rule seen as weakening brokerage defenses,” by Suzanne Barlyn, Reuters).
Categories: A General Overview, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Elder Abuses, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Investor Rights, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Stockbroker Standards of Conduct, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonApril 11, 2012
Investors sometimes hire a financial adviser to manage their money professionally if for no other reason than to escape their own irrationality. Many investors know that, in investing, their emotions can be their worst enemy ? leading them to buy high and sell low. They think that a financial adviser, detached from their emotions, will […]
Categories: A General Overview, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Stockbroker Standards of Conduct, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonMarch 21, 2012
In the wake of Greg Smith’s op-ed piece about why he is leaving Goldman Sachs, the press has been inundated with all sorts of opinions and comments both supportive and critical. Some question Smith’s motives; others question Goldman’s motives in attacking him. Few address Greg Smith’s central point ? that Goldman puts its own interests […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Goldman Sachs, Investor Rights, Stockbroker Standards of Conduct
Posted by Page PerryonMarch 20, 2012
The House Financial Services Committee under Republican Chairman Spencer Bachus rejected a proposal to increase the SEC’s budget by 18.5 percent to $1.56 billion to pressure the SEC to back down on its recommendation to impose a fiduciary duty standard on broker-dealers. Congressional Republicans tried to justify their rejection of the needed funding by pointing […]
Categories: Investment Advisers, Investor Rights, Regulatory Developments, Stockbroker Standards of Conduct
Posted by Page PerryonMarch 20, 2012
William D. Cohan is skeptical of Greg Smith’s claim that he only recently discovered that Goldman Sachs put its own interests ahead of its clients. Goldman, Cohan says, has a 143 year history of duping clients, and Smith, if he is to be believed, just did not use his Stanford education to check the publicly […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Goldman Sachs, Investment Malpractice, Misrepresentation/Omission, Stockbroker Standards of Conduct
Posted by Page PerryonMarch 15, 2012
Greg Smith, a twelve-year veteran of Goldman Sachs, who had previously appeared on one of Goldman’s recruiting videos, resigned recently. He said he was leaving because the “put-the-client’s-interest-first” culture that had attracted him and held the firm together for 140-plus years had been replaced by a predatory “make-the-firm-money-by-ripping-off-clients” culture. The culture changed as result of […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Goldman Sachs, Stockbroker Standards of Conduct
Posted by Page PerryonMarch 9, 2012
Investment advisers face legal liability if they fail to exercise special care in dealing with clients who have diminished mental capacity, such as those with Alzheimer’s disease. They need to have reasonable procedures in place to deal with it, and they need to document every step in the process of implementing such a plan in […]
Categories: A General Overview, Brokerage Firms, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Stockbroker Standards of Conduct
Posted by Page PerryonMarch 1, 2012
The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued an alert warning firms about their supervisory obligations with regard to unauthorized trading by brokers and advisors in customers’ accounts. The SEC’s alert provides guidance to firms in preventing and detecting unauthorized trading. InvestmentNews calls the SEC’s alert a “scoundrel alert” (“Scoundrel alert: SEC warns firms about policing […]
Categories: A General Overview, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Stockbroker Standards of Conduct, Unauthorized Trading