read about it on International Financial Law Prof Blog
Posts Tagged ‘FINRA’
FINRA Changes Regulatory Priorities – Pushing “Best Interest of Client” in 2015 Over “Suitability Standard”
Posted by William Byrnes on January 26, 2015
Posted in Compliance | Tagged: FINRA | Leave a Comment »
FINRA Sets Regulatory Sights on Structured Products
Posted by William Byrnes on January 11, 2012
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is targeting structured products over concerns about unsuitable sales to retail customers. In an exclusive interview with AdvisorOne (a Summit Business Media product) Bradley Bennett, enforcement chief at FINRA, said that the agency’s caseload on the recent financial crisis has eased up, and the agency is ready to renew its focus on structured products.
Structured products are often marketed to retail customers without an adequate explanation of their associated risks. “They purport to give the alchemy of lowering risk while increasing yield,” Bennett said, “but the risk needs to be explained” both to the broker-dealer’s “sales force and customers, and be suitable given the customer’s financial circumstances.”
Read this complete analysis of the impact at AdvisorFX (sign up for a free trial subscription with full access to all the planning libraries and client presentations if you are not already a subscriber).
For previous coverage of structured products in Advisor’s Journal, see SEC Warns Investors about Principal Protected Notes (CC 11-117).
For in-depth analysis of structured products, see Advisor’s Main Library: 7774. What is a structured product? How are structured products taxed?
Posted in Wealth Management | Tagged: AdvisorOne, Broker-dealer, Business, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, FINRA, Investment Advisor, Structured product, Summit Business Media | Leave a Comment »
SEC Warns Investors about Principal Protected Notes
Posted by William Byrnes on November 3, 2011
In a low-interest rate world, high-yield investments offering principal protection are enticing to investors. But the complexity of some high-end investment products has the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) warning investors to look before they leap.
In an alert titled Structured Notes with Principal Protection: Note the Terms of Your Investment, the regulators warn investors that these structured products may not be what they seem. Although they are marketed under a variety of names with a “principal protection” component—e.g. “absolute return” and “minimum return”—the true extent of their safety is never obvious . Investors need to read the fine print to decide whether they are suitable for their investing needs and risk tolerance.
Read this complete analysis of the impact at AdvisorFX (sign up for a free trial subscription with full access to all the planning libraries and client presentations if you are not already a subscriber).
Posted in Wealth Management | Tagged: Business, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, FINRA, Investor, SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission, Structured product, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission | Leave a Comment »
FINRA Puts Disciplinary Histories on Web
Posted by William Byrnes on September 29, 2011
Disciplinary histories are becoming easier to access. Brokers’ disciplinary histories are now prominently displayed for the web savvy public; they’re no longer filed away at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), where only the most diligent investors will find them. FINRA has made your disciplinary history freely and easily available to the public by launching a web-accessible discipline database.
Whether the easy accessibility of the information is a beneficial will depend on a broker’s history. Those with a clean record will undoubtedly benefit from the easy accessibility of the information and the ease with which clients and prospects can search their record and compare it to others. Those with a negative history, whether deserved or not, may now find themselves on the defensive with prospects more often.
Read this complete analysis of the impact at AdvisorFX (sign up for a free trial subscription with full access to all the planning libraries and client presentations if you are not already a subscriber).
For previous coverage of FINRA complaint and disciplinary procedure in Advisor’s Journal, see FINRA Rule 45-30: Expansive New Complaint Report Requirements (CC 11-96) & Broker Bonus Arbitration Bottleneck Forces FINRA to Reconsider Arbitrator Qualification Standards (CC 11-08).
Posted in Financial Crimes, Wealth Management | Tagged: Accessibility, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, FINRA, Twitter, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, UBS, United States, Wall Street | Leave a Comment »
William Byrnes' Tax, Wealth, and Risk Intelligence 