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California Financial Services Law Report- The Growing Trend: Brokers Moving From Major Wirehouses To Independent Broker-Dealers
By Erwin J. Shustak, Esq. of Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C. posted on Wednesday, January 31, 2018.
The facts speak for themselves. There is a steady and growing trend for brokers to leave one of the remaining four wirehouse firms (Merrill, Morgan, Wells Fargo, UBS) and move to one of the independent broker-dealers (IBD’s), RIA firms or smaller, regional firms. In 2016, the four wirehouses had a net exit of approximately $40 billion of assets leave them for one of the IBD’s and other advisor channels. In 2017, the movement of assets from the wirehouses to the IBD network accelerated dramatically. Approximately $75 billion moved from one of the four wirehouses to one of the IBD’s, a regional broker or an RIA firm. Read More
Morgan Stanley Post "Prexit" (Broker Protocol Exit)
By Erwin J. Shustak, Esq. of Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C. posted on Friday, December 15, 2017.
FINRA Examinations Report Cites Broker-Dealer Cybersecurity Deficiencies
By Jonah A. Toleno, Esq. of Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C. posted on Tuesday, December 12, 2017.
On December 6, 2017, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) released a report on recent findings by it Examination program, citing to key deficiencies in broker-dealer cyber security processes. Read More
Financial Brokers Beware: FINRA Is About To Seriously Reduce The Ability To Expunge Customer Complaints
By Erwin J. Shustak, Esq. of Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C. posted on Wednesday, December 13, 2017.
FINRA recently submitted a new proposal to the Securities and Exchange Commission which will greatly narrow, and substantially complicate, the ability of brokers to expunge- or remove- from public records including their FINRA CRD (Central Registration Depository) records and FINRA’s Broker Check, prior customer complaints. Read More
The Broker Protocol Update-Who's In-Who's Out
By Erwin J. Shustak, Esq. of Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C. posted on Thursday, December 7, 2017.
As we wind down 2017, there has been a flurry of news over the Broker Protocol which began with Morgan Stanley’s announced departure from the group of over 1,500 financial institutions that have signed onto the Protocol since it was first adopted in 2004 by Smith Barney, UBS and Merrill Lynch. Read More
Brokerage Firms and FINRA Crack Down on Broker Expense Account Violations
By Erwin J. Shustak, Esq. of Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C. posted on Monday, December 4, 2017.
In a growing number of high profile cases, often involving major producers and star brokers at major wire houses, the firms and FINRA have adopted a zero-tolerance policy for violations of expense account reporting. These crackdowns involve both firm funds and personal business development accounts (“BDA Accounts”), which are available at most wire houses and are funded with brokers’ pre-tax earnings. What is unusual is both the recent frequency of the crackdowns and the severity of the sanctions involved. Read More
From Bitcoin to Ethereum, The Rise of Initial Coin Offerings Draws Regulatory Scrutiny
By Jake Zindulka of Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C. posted on Monday, November 27, 2017.
From Bitcoin to Ethereum, The Rise of Initial Coin Offerings Draws Regulatory Scrutiny The amount of capital raised through initial coin offerings (ICOs) has increased exponentially in just the last year. So far, in 2017, companies have raised over $3 billion compared to approximately $300 million raised between 2014 and 2016. Read More
San Diego Securities Lawyers: First Morgan, Now UBS Jumps From The Broker Protocol Ship
By Erwin J. Shustak, Esq. of Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C. posted on Tuesday, November 28, 2017.
Several weeks ago, Morgan Stanley became the first major wire house to exit the Broker Protocol that Morgan signed back in 2006. Since exiting the Protocol, Morgan already has sought, and obtained, a Temporary Restraining Order from a state court judge preventing that departed broker- who joined Morgan when Morgan still was an active member of the Broker Protocol. Following Morgan’s lead, UBS, one of the initial three signers of the Broker Protocol back in 2004, has announced it also will leave the Broker Protocol by the first of December. Read More
California FINRA Lawyers: The Growing Problem of Unpaid FINRA Arbitration Awards
By Erwin J. Shustak, Esq. of Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C. posted on Tuesday, November 14, 2017.
While FINRA arbitrations were intended to provide investors and industry members a quick and relatively inexpensive procedure by which to settle their disputes with member firms, the fact is that a significant portion of FINRA arbitration awards remain unpaid and there is not much that FINRA is able to do about that. Read More
California Securities Lawyers: Morgan Stanley Ditches the Broker Protocol
By Erwin J. Shustak, Esq. of Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C. posted on Tuesday, October 31, 2017.
As FINRA and the SEC make it a priority for the investing public to know as much about their investment professionals as possible, and as more and more investors are searching the FINRA Broker-Check web site to learn more about their advisers, expungement is an increasingly significant issue [...] Read More