Again. The Abuse of Power. The second part of the story is undoubted of more interest to securities lawyers, judges, and law professors, but the rest of you should continue reading. Government abuse is a topic that affects all of us and unfortunately happens too often. The abuse involves quests […]
Brokers
Commentary, news and links of interest to financial advisers.
Rogue Customers
Customers who abuse the system, and harm their brokers. By Mark J. Astarita, Esq. These days, it seems that every major publication, and every television news show, has done, or is doing, a story on “rogue brokers” – brokers who care nothing about their customers, or their firms, or the […]
Guide to Broker-Dealer Registration
By Mark J. Astarita, Esq. The following article has been adopted from an article distributed by the SEC</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>The United States Securities and Exchange Commission is the federal agency charged with the regulation and oversight of the securities markets, public companies and securities professionals.(…)</div>” href=”https://www.seclaw.com/glossary/sec/” data-gt-translate-attributes='[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]’>SEC‘s Division of Market Regulation. The article was originally posted in December 2005. It’s last update by securities attorney Mark Astarita, for SECLaw.com was in September 2006 Table of Contents Introduction Who Is […]
Promissory Note Fraud
NASDR Warns Investors and Brokers of Promissory Note Fraud Schemes. Investors Beware. By Mark J. Astarita, Esq. The NASD has issued a regulatory alert to broker-dealers regarding the significant number of fraudulent promissory note schemes that have been offered to investors and to remind members and registered persons of the […]
Who Needs to Register
By Mark J. Astarita, Esq. I am often asked by readers and visitors to my web site whether particular people have to register with the NASD. The question is not so easy to answer, and, like most things regulatory, often changes. So, while I attempt to discuss the categories of […]
SEC Inspection Report on the Soft Dollar Practices
Soft Dollar Arrangements are agreements between broker-dealers and their clients where the broker-dealer provides, in addition to other services, research to the client, in addition to execution services. The research, which includes reports, access to analysts, or third party reports is provided to the client by the broker-dealer at the […]
Too Much Information
The NASD May Soon Protect Investors at Broker’s Expense By Mark J. Astarita, Esq. This time the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) has gone too far. On November 27, 1996, the association proposed to make full disclosure of the entire contents of the disciplinary and litigation section of a […]
Appellate Court Strikes Hedge Fund Registration Rule
Rule Determined to be Arbitrary, Sent Back to SEC By Mark J. Astarita, Esq. In a decision issued on June 23, 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has thrown out the SECs controversial rule requiring the registration of hedge funds. The SECs rule, which […]
Market Timing Is Legal
Lying to Investors Is Not. By Mark J. Astarita, Esq. While you would never know it from the press reports, and some pretty irresponsible statements from some regulators, market timing is not illegal. It is a perfectly legal trading strategy, which has been in existence for years, with the knowledge […]
Customer Pays Fidelity Full Damages on ACAT Transfer Error
Panel awards Fidelity Brokerage Full Damages on Mistaken ACAT Transfer FIDELITY BROKERAGE SERVICES, INC. v. LaVALLIE, NASD ID # 99-03918 (New York, 8/22/03). A customer who wrongly retained an over delivery of securities is held liable for the consequences, in spite of the broker-dealer’s error. Fidelity made a mistake when […]