By Jeffrey M. Haber What anti-money laundering compliance programs should financial firms have in place? The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) recently announced that it had fined Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, a former unit of Credit Suisse AG, $16.5 million for anti-money laundering (“AML”), supervision, and other violations. The self-regulatory watchdog found that the firm’s monitoring program for detecting suspicious activity was deficient in two mate

By Jeffrey M. Haber Arbitration is an alternative form of dispute resolution, meaning it is an alternative to a court proceeding. In arbitration, the parties have their dispute resolved by neutral persons (known as arbitrators) knowledgeable in the areas in dispute, rather than by a judge or jury. Arbitration has been a form of dispute resolution within the securities industry for many years, primarily because it is generally considered to be faster, inexpensive and less comp

By Jeffrey M. Haber What is the amount of fines assessed by FINRA this year? Thus far, 2016 has been a banner year for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA"). Buoyed in part by a handful of large penalties, the self-regulatory watchdog is on pace for a record year as fines could be up by 70 percent when all is said and done. In the first six months of this year, FINRA assessed $79.4 million in fines against member broker-dealers. For the similar period in 2015

By Jeffrey M. Haber What type of fraud is Laurence Balter accused of? Laurence Balter, a former fund adviser and registered investment advisor, stands accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") of "multiple breaches of fiduciary duty." Breaches of fiduciary duty occur when financial advisers prioritize their own interests over those of their clients. The SEC accuses Balter, who was operating through Oracle Investment, located in Washington and Hawaii, of collec

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