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1 week ago | 
csglaw.com | Lisa M. Colone |Christopher Kelly
CSG Law Alert: What is FINRA’s Threshold for Deciding Whether a Matter Should Be Referred to Enforcement? The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently announced that, going forward, the CFTC’s operating divisions would refer only “material” violations to the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement. What are “material” violations?
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2 weeks ago | 
csglaw.com | Lisa M. Colone |Christopher Kelly
CSG Law Alert: Does a Recent Settlement Signal a Change in FINRA’s Approach to Charging Violations of FINRA’s Private Securities Transaction Rule? Is a broker-dealer required to “supervise” representatives’ outside investment advisory activities? For years, FINRA has struggled to answer this question. However, a recent FINRA settlement may shed light on FINRA’s current approach.
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2 months ago | 
csglaw.com | Lisa M. Colone |Christopher Kelly
Oyster Consulting: Inside FINRA Enforcement – What Firms Need to KnowOn February 28, Lisa M. Colone and Christopher J.
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Jan 22, 2025 | 
csglaw.com | Lisa M. Colone |Christopher Kelly
CSG Law Alert: An Unofficial Guide to FINRA’s 2024 Enforcement StatisticsIn 2024, FINRA Enforcement settled by Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) approximately 523 disciplinary actions. Of those, roughly 70 percent were filed against individual respondents and 30 percent against firms.1 This alert will focus on the AWCs filed against firms.
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Jan 7, 2025 | 
csglaw.com | Lisa M. Colone |Christopher Kelly
CSG Law Alert: Does a Recent Settlement Signal a Change in FINRA’s Approach to Restitution? Between January 1, 2021 and December 1, 2024, FINRA ordered restitution in 146 settlements. In 145 of the 146 settlements, FINRA ordered the respondents to pay a specific dollar amount—often down to the penny—to specified harmed investors. In a recent settlement, however, FINRA took a markedly different approach.
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Dec 6, 2024 | 
csglaw.com | Lisa M. Colone
National Society of Compliance Professionals: Currents Live WebinarOn December 11, from 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Lisa M.
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Dec 3, 2024 | 
csglaw.com | Lisa M. Colone |Christopher Kelly
CSG Law Alert: Is a Significant Threat to FINRA’s Authority Lurking in the Text of the Alpine Decision? On November 22, the D.C. Circuit issued its highly anticipated decision in Alpine v. FINRA.1 Although the Court enjoined FINRA from unilaterally expelling Alpine following an expedited proceeding, one could imagine FINRA’s leadership thinking, “it could have been worse.” Indeed, it could have been worse for FINRA.
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Nov 13, 2024 | 
csglaw.com | Lisa M. Colone |Christopher Kelly
CSG Law Alert: The Truth About Credit for Cooperation in FINRA-LandLast week, the Acting Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, Sanjay Wadhwa, gave a speech in which he highlighted the Division’s ongoing efforts to encourage the industry to cooperate in its investigations by awarding credit for cooperation.
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Oct 15, 2024 | 
csglaw.com | Lisa M. Colone |Christopher Kelly
CSG Law Alert: FINRA Issues Two CAT Reporting Cases in One DayLate last year, FINRA’s CEO, Robert Cook, made some interesting comments about the Consolidated Audit Trail or “CAT.” Although Cook described the CAT rollout as a “success” overall, he acknowledged that there are “tons of problems that people raise with CAT” and even suggested that some paring back of CAT may be warranted, remarking that FINRA might one day conclude: “Maybe we went too far.
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Oct 1, 2024 | 
csglaw.com | Lisa M. Colone |Christopher Kelly
CSG Law Alert: FINRA’s New Favorite ViolationRecently, FINRA issued a letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) charging a broker with violating FINRA’s ethics rule, Rule 2010. In the Albert Mosseri AWC, FINRA alleged that the broker, who also was licensed to sell insurance, acted unethically by certifying that he had completed 15 hours of insurance-related continuing education (CE) when, in fact, another person had completed the CE on his behalf.
