Law and Order

Law and Order – October 2025

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) posts the disciplinary actions it has taken to its online database.  It also posts a monthly summary of these actions, which is a worthwhile read for those in the industry – if only to gain insight into FINRA’s regulatory...

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A Recipe for Failure

The firm's surveillance system generated more than 10,000 alerts over a two-month period. It also flagged approximately 15.2 million items over a two-year period with over 5.2 million still unreviewed at the time of the disciplinary action. If that were not enough - and stop me if you have heard this before...

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Law and Order

Law and Order – July 2025

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) posts the disciplinary actions it took to its online database.  It also posts a monthly summary of these actions, which is a worthwhile read for those in the industry if only to gain insight into FINRA’s regulatory...

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Compliance Checkup Form

Is your firm operationally ready to handle its compliance responsibilities? Find out with the Compliance Checkup Form.

Because broker-dealers, registered investment advisers and their associates want to spend their time serving their clients, not their regulators.

Read more:

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Law and Order

Law and Order – June 2025

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) posts the disciplinary actions it took to its online database.  FINRA also posts a monthly summary of these actions.  (Reader's Digest it is not, but that is not the point.)  Setting aside whether one agrees with...

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The ABCs of WSPs

The ABCs of WSPs

Most movie fans can quote some parts of the classic courtroom showdown between Tom Cruise’s Lieutenant Kaffee and Jack Nicholson’s Colonel Jessep in the 1992 movie A Few Good Men (“You want answers?” “I WANT THE TRUTH!” “YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!”).

However, before this...

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NSCP Volunteer

For Compliance

The National Society of Compliance Professionals (NSCP) is a valuable resource for the broker-dealer and registered investment adviser compliance community. I have had the good fortune to contribute to the NSCP's efforts in a number of ways, among which is writing articles for its Currents publication. ...

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Tips from The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy for Responding to Regulatory Exams

A Trilogy in Five Parts

From "Don't panic" to "So once you do know what the question actually is, you'll know what the answer means" to "I don’t know what I’m looking for . . ." to "Life’s bad enough as it is without wanting to invent any more of it" to (finally)...

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Consolidated Audit Trail

Not the Same CAT

I do not think that it is an exaggeration to write that historically the public’s view of securities trade reporting has been a collective yawn. (In fact, that sentiment may also be true for industry participants – until, of course, it goes wrong.) This changed with a recent lawsuit filed in...

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