By: Jeffrey M. Haber It is a fact of life that many securities brokers and financial advisors will be the subject of one or more customer complaints during his/her career. To be sure, some of those complaints will be justified. However, many of them will not be. In those latter instances, innocent brokers and financial advisors will have a blemish on his/her record that can be cleared only through an expungement proceeding. Expungement is essentially a three-step procedure. F

By Jeffrey M. Haber What is a FINRA arbitration? The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") issued a Regulatory Notice in July 2016 reminding member firms that customers have a right to request arbitration "at any time." In addition, the self-regulator stated that customers do not forfeit their right to a FINRA arbitration by signing an agreement that calls for another venue. The notice also reiterated that FINRA members cannot require registered representatives an

By Jeffrey M. Haber What are the consequences of submitting inaccurate trade data to the SEC and FINRA? Investment banks and securities firms are well aware of their responsibilities to adhere to the rules promulgated by the Securities Exchange Commission ("SEC") and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") regarding trade data, also referred to as "blue sheets." The federal securities laws and FINRA rules require firms to provide blue sheet information to FINRA

By: Jeffrey M. Haber How do anti-money laundering programs detect suspicious activity? The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") announced in May that it fined two Raymond James entities for systemic flaws in their anti-money laundering programs. The units, Raymond James & Associates (RJA) and Raymond James Financial Service ("RJFS") were fined $8 million and $9 million, respectively. FINRA cited these units for not establishing and implementing adequate procedure