On May 16, 2022, FINRA published an Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”) in which FA, Robert Bennett Zamani, accepted a 14-month suspension and a $27,500 fine for violations of FINRA Rule 3270 (Outside Business Activities), Rule 2210 (Communications with the Public), Rule 4511 (Books and Records) and, as always, Rule…
On May 6, 2022, FINRA released a “Discussion Paper – Expungement of Customer Dispute Information” (the “Discussion Paper”) to address what FINRA clearly sees as problems with the current system for expunging customer complains. Let’s be clear from the outset, FINRA is openly hostile to the expungement of customer complaint…
Maybe you were caught using a fake ID when you were in college or maybe you got into a heated exchange after a fender bender. Each of these could lead to a variety of criminal charges that vary by state and by prosecutorial discretion. Criminal charges have obvious negative consequences. …
In September of 2018, Merrill Lynch terminated the Claimant in this arbitration for allegedly opening up a Bank of America bank account for a customer without authorization. In 2020, the Claimant brought an arbitration against Merrill Lynch seeking expungement of the alleged defamatory reason for termination and also sought $50,000…
On November 19, 2020, FINRA published a noteworthy arbitration award for a Herskovits PLLC client in FINRA Arbitration No. 20-01054. This case has garnered significant attention in the press due to the fact that Wells Fargo was ordered to pay our client’s attorneys’ fees. Stories about the case have been…
On September 22, 2020, FINRA submitted a proposed rule change to the SEC. The proposed rule furthers FINRAs assault on the expungement process by imposing stringent requirements on expungement requests filed during a customer arbitration by or on behalf of the associated person (“on-behalf-of request”) or filed by a registered…
On April 21, 2020, California’s Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District created a significant carve-out to the absolute immunity standard previously applicable to Form U5 defamation claims in California. The full opinion in Tilkey v. Allstate Insurance Co., Super. Ct. No. 37-2016-00015545-CU-OE-CTL (2020) is available here. This case significantly changes…
On December 11, 2019, a Chicago-based FINRA arbitration panel body-slammed UBS in a Form U5 defamation case (FINRA Case No. 18-02179 – Munizzi vs. UBS Financial Services Inc.). UBS will need to cough up compensatory damages of $3,149,656, punitive damages of $7.5 million, and almost $500,000 in attorneys’ fees. …