Category Archives: Securities Arbitration
Eleventh Circuit Reaffirms “Flexible” Approach to Securities Class Actions
One of the most powerful tools in investors’ arsenals against securities fraud is the securities class action. In these types of cases, many plaintiffs join together on behalf of themselves and others allegedly harmed. A class action allows plaintiffs to pool litigation resources, and be represented by one or more attorneys, instead of each… Read More »
FINRA Criticized for Being Lenient on Financial Brokers
On May 29, 2014, one of five Commissioners of the Securities and Exchange Commission gave a speech to FINRA’s Division of Market Regulation. While the SEC is the final government regulator of the country’s securities industry, FINRA—or the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority—is a key player in U.S. markets. FINRA is not itself a government… Read More »
Federal Agencies Focus on South Florida Securities Fraud
In December 2010, several federal government agencies began cooperating with each other to combat securities fraud. Known as the “Southern District of Florida Securities and Investment Fraud Initiative,” or just “the Initiative,” this effort has had tremendous success in the last three-and-a-half years. Recently, the Initiative reported that eighty-five defendants have been charged since… Read More »
FINRA Alerts Investors to Ebola Stock Scammers
Media outlets throughout the world continue to report on the tragic Ebola outbreak still ravaging West Africa. As recently reported, over 1,200 people have been killed since the virus began rapidly spreading in December 2013—and almost twice that number have been sickened. The virus itself does not appear to be directly affecting the United… Read More »
FINRA Arbitration Statistics Shed Light on Securities Disputes
As a principal forum for dispute resolution in the securities context, FINRA has overseen thousands of arbitration and mediation proceedings. In simple terms, arbitration is an often-required method of resolving disputes between investors and their brokers or brokerages, in which a FINRA arbitrator provides a binding decision on both parties. And mediation is a… Read More »
Damages in Form U5 Defamation Cases
When a brokerage firm terminates a financial adviser, disclosure rules require the firm to file a Form U.5. This form typically includes, among other disclosures, the nature of the termination and the reasons behind it. And while termination of a broker may simply be the result of layoffs or other neutral reasons, Form U5s… Read More »
Dark Pools Brought Further into the Light
In recent years, more and more securities have been traded away from the public eye, exposing markets to new kinds of possible securities fraud. As Bloomberg reported in 2012, only 68 percent of all trades occurred on public markets, like the NASDAQ or New York Stock Exchange. This number, down from 74 percent as… Read More »
Power of “Failure to Supervise” Affirmed by Federal Appeals Court
When one person is wronged by another—in the securities context or otherwise—fault can sometimes be placed at the feet of more than just the person who actively committed the wrong. For example, the courts and the regulatory agencies overseeing the financial markets (including FINRA and the SEC) have long recognized “failure to supervise” as… Read More »
The Difficulty of Getting Around Arbitration Clauses
Disputes between a broker and investor—like many other disputes in the commercial and financial world—are often resolved through arbitration. Arbitration, which is a court-free, less formal proceeding resolved by a neutral third party, is commonly required by agreements signed at the outset of the broker/investor relationship (and most commonly carried out by FINRA, the… Read More »
Top 10 Investor and Small Business Threats
The North American Securities Administrators Association (“NASAA”)—of which Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation is a member—is an organization made up of state securities regulation agencies. It endeavors to root out financial and securities fraud. And every year, the NASAA releases a helpful top 10 list of the “financial products and practices that threaten to… Read More »
