by Brian Mahany The headline in today’s Wall Street Journal reads “Insider – Trading Probe Widens.” Further down on the front page in smaller type is an article titled, “For Many Financial Advisers, Stocks Become A Hard Sell.” Is it any wonder why? While the Dow Jones Industrial Average is sitting at 13,200 this morning, […]
As The World Churns – FINRA Socks Stockbroker For $1.9 Million
by Brian Mahany Churning is a bad word in the securities industry. It happens when a stockbroker engages in excessive buying and selling of securities in a customer’s account. The motive is almost always high commissions. Each transaction generates a commission – the more turnover in an account the more the broker makes. (Investment advisers […]
Early Warning For Investors – Non Traded BDC's
by Brian Mahany The amount of new financial products coming out of Wall Street never ceases to amaze. The industry is developing products faster than state regulators and FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) can issue new regulations. The newest hot product on Wall Street is a Nontraded Business Development Company or “BDC.” According to […]
FINRA Notifies Brokers of "Heightened Supervision of Complex Products"
by Brian Mahany The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued a formal notice to stockbrokers earlier this week. The notice (12-03) advises of “heightened supervision” of complex financial products and echoes what we have said for years; don’t buy something if your broker can’t explain or you don’t understand it! FINRA defines a complex product as […]
Appeals of FINRA Arbitration Decisions
Can I Appeal an Arbitration Award if I Lose? Recently we wrote about brokerage giant Raymond James taking on FINRA. An arbitration panel awarded an 87 year old man $1.7 million for mismanaging his brokerage account. Rather than pay the victim, Raymond James took the highly unusual step of challenging the award. A Dallas judge later […]