Over the last five years, Doc Kennedy and AdvisorLaw have been dubbed the “800-pound gorilla” when it comes to FINRA arbitration cases. That reputation has been earned by absolutely dominating the FINRA arbitration landscape. Maybe it’s the quarantines, the lockdowns, or the imminent FINRA arbitration fee increases, but the gorilla is eager to help this year. Doc has decided to give back …
Will old investor complaints have to be disclosed after the SEC’s Reg BI takes effect?
Will investment advisors with customer disputes over ten years old have to disclose them on their Form ADV under the new SEC Regulation Best Interest Rule that’s taking effect after June 30, 2020? The short answer is, yes. Advisors will be required to disclose these old investor complaints on their ADV Part 3.
Auction Rate Securities: The Conservative’s Conservative?
For over 25 years, Auction Rate Securities (ARS) products were considered safe and sound investments. Then, everything changed in 2008 when investment banks stopped purchasing ARS products at the beginning of the Great Recession. The pause in ARS purchases caused an overall market freeze that snowballed into a massive influx of investor complaints against brokers who were making investment recommendations …
The Other Costs of Having FINRA U4 Disclosures on Your BrokerCheck
Losing potential business due to customer complaints on your BrokerCheck report is bad enough, but it isn’t the only cost of having FINRA U4 disclosures on your CRD. Today, most clients search online before setting up an initial meeting with a financial advisor. I’ve heard people say, “You don’t go to lunch in a new part of town without …
FINRA’s Focus on Advisors With Customer Disputes
We’ve known for some time that FINRA ranks their brokers based upon negative disclosures on their Form U4 and CRD. However, that information has never been released to the public en masse due to instances where many non-adjudicated claims have never actually proven a sales-practice violation by the advisor. A firm that represents customers in drumming up these investor complaints, …
AdvisorLaw Reaches 50 FINRA Customer Dispute Expungement Awards in 2017
AdvisorLaw has just reached an important and impressive milestone in the financial advisor industry. We have just reached our 50th winning award for customer dispute expungement in 2017 through FINRA’s Rule 2080 arbitration – and it’s only September! Why is this a big deal? Well, there are two very important reasons that will give you a sense of just how big of an …