 As a recent article in Financial Advisor IQ points out when a Registered Representative / Broker receives an 8210 Letter from FINRA requesting information and a signed statement, it would be wise to quickly call an experienced FINRA Attorney to assist in the initial response. Typically this follows a termination where the same Rep failed to contact an experienced FINRA Attorney to engage with the firm about what will be submitted in their U5 filing, which may have avoided the dreaded 8210 letter. The initial response to any 8210 letter sets the stage for what happens later. Too many reps call us, only after they responded on their own, to save money, only to learn that their response only did further damage, causing FINRA to further focus on them, by asking more questions and/or requesting that they come to FINRA for an on the record in intereview or an OTR. As a result not only is the time needed for an attorney to assist substantially lengthened, but the Rep is locked into a statement which is not helpful. These days there are many FINRA Enforcement action related to firm's meal reibursement programs such as the recent firing/suspension of a Morgan Stanley representative who did not have counsel), and/or a Fidelity broker who took advantage of a computer reimbursement programs allowance program. We have written about this issue before but it bears repeating as FINRA has been on war path with regard to such issues. Such programs provide for the expenditure of certain meals which the rep abuses, and/or the reimbursement for the purchase of a laptop which the rep then returns, but keeps the funds. These matters involve serious charges which reflect upon honesty and theft and thus FINRA takes such allegations seriously. In theory, these matters can turn into criminal proseuctions, as FINRA and/or the firm involved can refer them to local prosecutors. Those that treat such investigations as minor are in for a rude awakening when FINRA later suspends or Bars them. Further, most representatives, being self represented or represented by inexperienced FINRA counsel who are not familiar with FINRA's rules, fail to realize that a suspension even if short can in effect be the same as a bar if the AWC alleges it was intentional. As a result, the represenative becomes statutorily disqualified from the industry, meaning any firm that employs them would need to implement signficant oversight over the rep such that it makes it impossible for a firm to afford to employ them and they cant find a job. In addition, any admissions can in theory be used for a criminal prosecution. I have handled hundreds of U5 negotiations/FINRA 8210 Letter responses to date, and I have found that it is rare to find a case where we did not assist altering the U5 language so that the language was less impactful on the rep and/or avoided a potential 8210 Letter* while still accurate as to the reason for the departure. We engage with the firm and question every word of the proposed language asking the firm to attempt to support their proposed langauge or otherwise encourage them to alter it so that it better reflects what they know or do not know. Further, upon being retained to respond to a FINRA 8210 letter we request that the client provide us with their proposed response to FINRA as the first step. We have yet to see a single proposed response which did not require substantial modification while keeping the response accurate. For example, many representatives provide too much information , which was not even requested, and in so doing make matters worse. As a result, as many of our former clients attest to, we often succeeded in avoiding many of the negative repriccussions that would have been career ending for our clients wihout our assistance*. If you wish to have a free confidential/privleged phone consultation on your issue please feel free to contact me if you have recently been terminated or recieved an 8210 letter. Stuart Meissner Esq. Managing Partner Meissner Associates 212-764-3100 Note: New York based Meissner Associates is a nationally recognized employment law firm focused on the unique employment issues within the securities industry which is overseen by FINRA. The firm also represents SEC whistleblowers before the SEC, investors and securities professionals before FINRA arbitration panels and securities professionals in enforcement proceedings, as well as institutional and retail investors worldwide in recovering improper investment losses and protecting the employment rights of employees in the securities industry in FINRA arbitration and AAA Arbitration. Managing member Stuart Meissner is a former Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan and Assistant New York State Attorney General in the Investor Protection and Financial Crimes Units. Call Meissner Associates, FINRA Attorneys Nationwide Representation for FINRA Arbitrations Disclaimer: Prior results cannot and do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter, including yours, in which a lawyer or law firm may be retained. The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation. Attorney Advertising It is more common than you might think: A promising broker who is doing well for themselves with their current employer is recruited to join another firm after being promised the world.
The broker leaves their job to join this new firm and is shocked to learn that the enticements were misleading and/or false. We are seeing more and more often just how common this technique is, in particular with Citizens Securities, a subsidiary of Citizens Bank, according to our clients. After having filed multiple claims with FINRA, we are showing Citizens Securities that our clients mean business. Read on to learn more about the false recruitment promises in question and how our firm obtained an unheard-of result for one broker who had only been employed with Citizens Securities for four and a half months before the lies forced him to take action. The Bait and Switch Citizens Investment Services and other financial companies have faced accusations of tempting otherwise-successful financial planners into leaving their current positions and coming to work for their institution by making promises that often include inheriting a large book of business, usually tens of millions of dollars in business, and promises that they would be working in well-established branches. Brokers would then be issued a promissory note as part of the recruitment deal, which is typically repaid over a period of five years. However, in some cases, once these stockbrokers would agree to be recruited, things took a turn for the worse, as is believed was the case with Frank Aiello and several other former Citizens Securities brokers. Meissner Associates vs. Citizens Securities Our firm is proud to have assisted wronged brokers in obtaining awards after allegedly having been taken advantage of by Citizens Securities and other financial planning institutions. In the case of Aiello, he states that Citizens Securities recruited him from PNC Bank by promising him a $30 million book of business and the ability to work in his current Pennsylvania branch. He was also issued a $220,000 promissory note. He contends that almost immediately, things took a turn for the worse when he was not only forced to sign a backdated document stating he had never been made these promises, but he was not given the promised book of business and was sent to work in an entirely different branch. Aiello tried to make the best of a bad situation but left Citizens Securities just four months after being recruited, which meant his promissory note was due in full. After making a repayment offer of $150,000 that was ultimately rejected, he states that he began receiving threats that his broker license would be taken away by Citizens Securities. Concerned for his future, Aiello began working with our team at Meissner Associates, and after we did our due diligence and obtained damaging evidence against Citizens that we believe showed their blatant disregard for the truth, Aiello was issued an unheard-of award of nearly $1.7 million. We have also initiated claims for other wronged Citizens Securities brokers, including Wendy Morasco and several others who were allegedly made nearly identical promises by Citizens Securities only to find them to be lies. Meet with an Experienced FINRA Employment Dispute Lawyer If you are a stockbroker who was recruited based on false or misleading promises and are interested in holding the brokerage firm to account, reach out to a highly trained FINRA employment dispute lawyer at Meissner Associates. We provide free consultations to those like you who have been wronged by financial planning institutions. To take advantage of this opportunity, you can fill out the confidential contact form on the right side of this page or give our firm a call at 212-764-3100. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) requires all brokerage firms to file a Form U5 for all registered representatives. Also known as the Uniform Termination Notice, the Form U5 is then available for Securities Industry Registration for both FINRA and self-regulatory organizations (SRO), including brokerage firms and financial planning institutions and jurisdictions.
FINRA requires this form to be filed within thirty days of a stockbroker’s termination. This can be done electronically through the online Central Registration Depository (CRD). A copy of the Form U5 must also be provided to the terminated broker and/or registered representative within the same thirty-day timeframe. If you have been let go from your brokerage firm and are awaiting your Form U5, or if you have received your Form U5 and found false information, you may need to get help from a financial industry employment lawyer. Below, we go into further detail about why FINRA requires firms to file a Form U5 and the various types of Form U5 filings there are. The Purpose of Form U5The financial industry and securities markets are heavily regulated by a number of different government agencies, including FINRA, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and agencies within each state. For this reason, whenever a stockbroker leaves a firm, whether due to a termination, a voluntary discharge, or even death, a Form U5 must be filled out. This provides these agencies with specific information about the conduct of the stockbroker. Types of Form U5 FilingsThere are three types of Form U5 filings: full, partial, and amended. In a full Form U5 filing, an individual’s registration will be terminated with all SROs and the state or jurisdiction. A partial Form U5 filing terminates a broker’s registration with select jurisdictions and SROs. Partial-form U5s do not include disclosure questions or the reason for termination. Finally, an amended Form U5 filing is used to make changes to an existing Form U5. Such changes might include the reason for termination, amending a disclosure, updating the individual’s residential address, and the date of their termination. The information contained in a Form U5 can dramatically impact your life, particularly if the information is false or misleading. If you have found information on your Form U5 that could seriously harm your professional reputation or your ability to earn a living, it may be well-advised to consult with an attorney. Consult with a Financial Industry Employment LawyerIf you are a registered stockbroker who has been wrongfully terminated by your firm, or if you are involved in another type of employment dispute, you may have already or will soon receive a Form U5 filing. For help understanding what your Form U5 contains, or if you need legal representation to pursue FINRA arbitration for your dispute with your former employer, contact a respected financial industry employment lawyer at Meissner Associates. To schedule your free case review, simply submit the contact form on the right side of this page or give our office a call at 212-764-3100.  We have received numerous calls from reps informing us that firms are cracking down on brokers abusing dinner, computer or transportation expense reimbursement accounts. Reps are being terminated and U5 forms are being marked resulting in more and more FINRA 8210 letters and year long FINRA Enforcement investigations. Brokers are being impacted by this purge of what in the past was viewed as a minor issue which in the past resulted in a simple warning. Now there are no more warnings, rather violators are being terminated. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, firms from Wells Fargo to Fidelity have been discharging brokers for violating expense policies regarding after hour meals. Others have been discharged for violating computer reimbursement policies by returning computers after being ordered and keeping the reimbursement instead of reporting the return. Other altered times on food receipts so as to meet firm time requirements for dinner reimbursement policies.
Many brokers don't realize the serious nature of such actions as on the surface they have nothing to do with clients and securities. However the impact on one's career can be devastating and not to be taken lightly. U5 forms mandate that firms report to FINRA if any termination involves "fraud or the wrongful taking of property" (Question 7F on Form U5). Such actions clearly renders the rep eligible for such being checked off. Once such is checked off on a Form U5 it automatically triggers a FINRA investigation and a FINRA 8210 Letter. FINRA Investigations tend to last over a year even if they do not seek sanctions, which impacts upon one's ability to be hired by another firm as they will inquire if there is a FINRA investigation, and no firm seeks to employ a broker who may be suspended or barred by FINRA. It is essential to retain a qualified FINRA Attorney early on, as soon as the rep is terminated, so that the attorney may be able to convince the firm not to check off Question 7F and if they do, to respond properly, so as to minimize the likelihood that FINRA pursues the investigation or seeks sanctions. These matters are not something to handle on one's own as too often reps dig a deep hole that the attorney they later retain cannot dig out from. Finally, too many reps incorrectly believe that if they resign voluntarily before they are terminated that they may avoid any issues. However, departing before being fired does not resolve any of the issues raised. One's U5 will still be marked as your departing during an investigation and when the investigation concludes your U5 will be amended. For further information or assistance Contact Stuart D. Meissner Esq. 866-764-3100. Note: New York based Meissner Associates is a nationally recognized employment law firm focused on the unique employment issues within the securities industry which is overseen by FINRA. The firm also represents SEC whistleblowers before the SEC, investors and securities professionals before FINRA arbitration panels and securities professionals in enforcement proceedings, as well as institutional and retail investors worldwide in recovering improper investment losses and protecting the employment rights of employees in the securities industry in FINRA arbitration and AAA Arbitration. Managing member Stuart Meissner is a former Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan and Assistant New York State Attorney General in the Investor Protection and Financial Crimes Units. Call Meissner Associates, FINRA Attorneys Nationwide Representation for FINRA Arbitrations NEW OFFICE ADDRESS: 1430 Broadway, Suite 1802 New York, N.Y. 10018 Along with five other convenient Manhattan Meeting Locations and five other cities across the US and London Attorney Advertising Meissner Law Firm Files & Prepares to File More Fraudulent Recruitment Claims Against Citizens Securities After the enormous publicity reporting on the record 1.7 million dollar award we recently won in July against Citizens Securities, subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group (NYSE: CFG), appearing in Bank Investment Consulting Newsletter, as well as the lengthy analysis done by Wealthmanagement.com (See Articles Below) about the pattern of aggressive recruiting and broken promises by Citizens Securities, which referred to new claims being reviewed and actually filed by our firm against Citizens Securities we expect more multi-million dollar awards to come in favor of registered representatives. The articles which appear below, have led to hundreds of calls from current and former Citizens Securities employees, from around the country, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan and other places who were similarly situated as Mr. Aiello. Callers to us seeking a FINRA Attorney have all provided similar stories of being misled into transferring to Citizens Securities based on false promises and losing their careers and clientele they built up over years in the process. As a result, we are preparing to file several more FINRA Arbitration Claims against Citizens Securities and have already file one such claim. In the award of this past July, we turned the tables on Citizens Securities who was seeking to have our client, who only stayed at Citizens for four months before leaving in disgust, repay a $220,000 upfront recruitment payment on a note. Instead Citizens Securities was required to pay 1.7 million, including retroactive interest, discovery sanctions and all FINRA forum fees to our client Frank Aiello. Frank was a financial advisor who alleged that he was fraudulently recruited from PNC Securities with the promise of a large book of business to be given to him as well as to be assigned to the same State College PA town which his customer base was in so that he could transfer his large current book of business. While the promises were all oral we were able to prove that they were made and that Citizen's reneged on their promises, which it was alleged was a pattern and practice for Citizens Securities. As noted in the Bank Investment Consulting Newsletter, other lawyers rarely win these claims which was characterized as a "bell-ringer," although in keeping with our law firm's know record arbitration win statistics *. If you believe you were misled by Citizens Securities or any other firm such as Well Fargo or others we have received calls on, and believe you were financially damaged significantly as a result call Meissner Associates for a free case evaluation - Toll Free Nationwide FINRA Attorney Representation 866-764-3100. We are now considering contingency type of legal retainers for Citizens employees as a result of our knowledge and history with such bank. Note: New York based Meissner Associates is a nationally recognized employment law firm focused on the unique employment issues within the securities industry which is overseen by FINRA. The firm also represents SEC whistleblowers before the SEC, investors and securities professionals before FINRA arbitration panels and securities professionals in enforcement proceedings, as well as institutional and retail investors worldwide in recovering improper investment losses and protecting the employment rights of employees in the securities industry in FINRA arbitration and AAA Arbitration. Managing member Stuart Meissner is a former Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan and Assistant New York State Attorney General in the Investor Protection and Financial Crimes Units. Call Meissner Associates, FINRA Attorneys Nationwide Representation for FINRA Arbitrations Mailing Address: 99 Main Street, Suite 303, Nyack N.Y. 10960 Phone- 212-764-3100, 845-444-5274 Fax-646-843-4964 New York City Meeting Address (Across from Bryant Park) 54 W. 40th Street New York, N.Y. Along with five other convenient Manhattan Locations and five other cities across the US and London Bank Investment Consultant Article: Wealthmanagement.com Article: *Prior results cannot and do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter, including yours, in which a lawyer or law firm may be retained. The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Meissner Firm Wins 1.7 Million Award on Behalf of Reg Rep in Defending Promissory Note Case7/19/2017 In a unique case involving blatant misrepresentations and false promises made by Citizens Securities, a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group, to an investment advisor during the hiring process, who faced a $220,000 demand for return of promissory note funds because he left the bank just 4 months after starting, a FINRA panel awarded the Advisor nearly 1.7 million in damages, interest and sanctions.
------------------------------------------------------------------s-------------------------------------------- NEW YORK (July 19, 2017) – In a milestone FINRA arbitration award released late last week from a Pittsburgh Pa. arbitration panel on behalf of a broker/investment advisor, New York based FINRA arbitration law firm Meissner Associates has secured a nearly $1.7 million arbitration award to a former employee of Citizens Securities a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group (NYSE: CFG). The broker advisor, Frank Aiello, age 49 of Boalsburg Pennsylvania, claimed that Citizens misled him when they recruited him from PNC bank to work for Citizens Securities. The Claim alleged that Citizens made numerous misrepresentations to him, such as (1) false promises that he could continue to work in State College Pennsylvania where his client base was but instead assigning him to branches far from that location; and (2) false promises that he would be given a 30 million dollar book of business to add to his already growing book, when in fact he was given only one-third of what was promised. Commenting on the award Stuart Meissner, Managing Member of the Meissner law firm, and a former securities regulator and prosecutor in New York, stated “I am pleased that the Panel heard the mountain of evidence we developed, some of which were Citizens' own witnesses, to support Mr. Aiello’s allegations even though all the promises made to him were oral.” Noting on the attempt to cover up their actions Meissner noted “Citizens Securities went out of its way, both during the events and during the arbitration process, to try to cover up and obstruct the truth from coming out, but they failed miserably.” Mr. Aiello commenting on the award stated “I am very pleased that justice was done and that the FINRA panel saw through Citizen’s Securities attempt to mislead. I hope this award will give other employees who are misled during recruitment in the securities industry the incentive to fight for justice.” It was alleged that after he started his employment Citizens Securities demanded that Mr. Aiello execute an acknowledgement form stating that no promises were made to him and that he was instructed to backdate the document to a date prior to his start date to make it appear that he had signed such acknowledgement while he was still with his prior employer PNC. During the hearing it was established that Mr. Aiello could not even have had the acknowledgement form on the date that it was indicated it was signed. The arbitration was also impacted by numerous sanction motions related to Citizen’s improper withholding and improper redacting of portions of critical emails and other documents which were uncovered due to subpoena, including internal emails between the headhunter and Citizens’ personnel referring to another recruit who was demanding similar promises be placed in writing in his offer letter, refusing to place such promises in writing stating “that could create a disaster from a litigation stand point. Can you imagine Frank Aiello with this kind of written promise.” At the conclusion of the hearing Aiello requested a range of compensatory damages between $902,000 and 4 million dollars. The 1.7 million dollar award, included retroactive 6% interest from his start date of August 3, 2015 on the 1.5 million dollars awarded totaling $168,410 in interest and $8,000 in sanctions. While the award was offset by the $220,000 provided to him by Citizens, along with $7,030 in interest on such note, that amount is dwarfed by the damages awarded to Mr. Aiello. Further, all forum fees totaling over $15,000 was assessed entirely against Citizens Securities. Typically, cases involving forgivable promissory notes are very difficult to defend against, let alone achieve an award turning the tables on the brokerage firm and requiring it to pay substantial damages to the broker/advisor. It was alleged in the claim that Citizens Securities has a pattern and practice of making such false promises to prospective recruits and then failing to live up to such promises significantly impacting their careers. As a result of the award, the Meissner firm now expects, and has already received, numerous inquiries by current and former Citizens’ Securities broker/advisors who wish to bring similar multi-million dollar claims against the brokerage. THERE IS A FOLLOWUP BLOG POST REGARDING THIS CASE Mr. Meissner is a former Manhattan prosecutor and member of the New York Attorney General’s office securities and financial crimes divisions. Note: New York based Meissner Associates is a nationally recognized whistleblower, securities, investment fraud and employment law firm representing SEC whistle-blowers, securities professionals in FINRA arbitration and enforcement proceedings as well as institutional and retail investors worldwide in recovering improper investment losses and protecting the employment rights of employees in the securities industry in FINRA arbitration and AAA Arbitration. Managing member Stuart Meissner is a former Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan and Assistant New York State Attorney General in the Investor Protection and Financial Crimes Units. Call Meissner Associates, FINRA Attorneys Nationwide Representation for FINRA Arbitrations 212-764-3100 * Prior results cannot and do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter, including yours Firms Pay Up When They Play Discovery Games in Promissory Note FINRA Employment Arbitration1/20/2017 Unlike most law firms we at Meissner Associates aggressively seek discovery in all our arbitration cases, so when we encounter a firm like Citizens Securities, the brokerage arm of Citizens Bank, along with their large well known law firm Greenburg Traurig playing games avoiding our discovery demands in arbitration we did what we normally do, we filed a Motion to Compel and fought for sanctions to send the right message from the start. After a hard fought oral argument, on December 21, 2016 we were notified (SEE DECISION BELOW) that we won our Motion and besides being ordered to produce a slew of documents and information to assist our client Citizens was ordered to pay $5000 immediately for attorney fees and for their delay, along with an additional $1,000 per day for every day they failed to produce the requested documents past the given deadline. No doubt the Order sent a message to Citizens and their attorneys that this was not a game and they are already behind the 8 ball in the arbitration in annoying the Chairmanof the FINRA Panel. While winning arbitrations involving promissory notes are not always easy, ones where the broker has valid claims which form the basis for unkept promises of books of business, as this one did, and other carrots to cause a broker to leave one firm to join another which turn out to be false and hurt their careers, are a solid basis to fight back, and it appears this is one of those cases. We continue on with discovery, but do so knowing that our careful arbitrator selection and screening of our client's claims appear to have been on the mark. If you were misled when being recruited and those false promises negatively impacted your career, you may have an independent claim against the firm for damages, in addition to being able to fight against collection of those golden handcuff promissory notes. As in our firm's motto - "one can be David and take on Goliath". Call Meissner Associates, FINRA Attorneys Nationwide Representation for FINRA Arbitrations 212-764-3100 * Prior results cannot and do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter, including yours  On Sept 1, 2016 the Hon. Judge Singh of the New York State Supreme Court Commercial Division filed his decision (including the transcript) in favor of Mr. Meissner's client, denying a defendant's Request for an Order to Show Cause to stop our pending multi-million dollar FINRA arbitration claim against him for for allegedly sexually abusing and harassing our client, a 57 year old female representative who has worked in the industry for 17 years and allegedly forcing her to perform oral sex on him while it is alleged he was her supervisor who had hired her in early 2015.
As previously reported on April 14, 2016 the Meissner firm, a nationally recogonized FINRA Arbitration Attorney firm, filed the claim in the FINRA arbitration forum. After Oral argument by Mr. Meissner where the Court summarily denied the defendant's arguments, the parties were sent back to FINRA Arbitration where the case will be heard. The Court held that since the defendant determined to place the issue arbitrability before the Director of FINRA, who then Denied their Motion, in favor of the Meissner Firm's client, and then filed an Answer on the merits, they had participated in the arbitration and cannot then seek a stay of the arbitration, but rather must continue to arbitrate the case before FINRA. Call the Meissner Firm Nationwide - 866-764-3100 for a free phone consultation if you have an employment dispute within the financial industry. Attorney Advertising Past results do not gurantee future outcomes  We often receive calls from registered representatives who were recently terminated for cause. Being terminated is a stressful situation which often leads many to act irrationally and not think clearly as to what they must do to prevent further damage to their career.
What kind of damage could a termination in the brokerage industry cause? Unlike other industries, the securities industry is highly regulated by FINRA. Everything is reported to FINRA and depending on what is reported it can mean the difference between not only having incorrect falsehoods on your Brokercheck for the rest of your career, but also being the subject of a lengthy FINRA Enforcement investigation, while at the same time trying to find a new job - not a pleasant circumstance to be in. Further, firms are known to exaggerate the reasons behind the termination whether intentionally, so as to try to keep the representative's clients, or simply due to laziness and having no one questioning the verbiage they choose to use or what disclosures are checked off in response to item 7F of Form U5 . What the firm chooses to write can makes all the difference to their future in the industry and impact their immediate income. DO TRY TO KEEP ANY EMAILS, TEXTS, WITNESS NAMES, OR OTHER EVIDENCE WHICH MAY ASSIST YOU IN DISPUTING THE FIRM'S VERSION OF TERMINATION, IF NOT ACCURATE - any such evidence could be critical to convincing the firm to alter the language they propose to include in the U5 and/or dissuade FINRA from taking enforcement action. DO CALL AN ATTORNEY IMMEDIATELY UPON TERMINATION - If the representative is on the ball and they engage a qualified and experienced FINRA attorney as soon as they are terminated, often times significant expense, damage and stress can be avoided. Firm's have 30 days from the date of termination for which to file the Form U5 so it is critical to act quickly as firms are more likely to make changes before they file the U5 than after. We have successfully engaged with both large and small firms so as to determine what language will be submitted as to the reason for the termination as well as what the firm's responses to question 7F (violation of investment related statutes, regulations, rules or industry standards, fraud or wrongful taking of property, etc) will be. When called early on in the process, we have on numerous occasions been successful in convincing the firm to remove affirmative responses to 7F and modifying and toning down the language for termination, pointing out inaccuracies of such language based on the evidence with the threat of a future significant potential defamation claim. As a result, countless representatives have avoided FINRA enforcement proceedings which could lead to sanctions, suspension or a bar, and many have avoided marks on their Brokercheck records impacting their ability to obtain new employment and clients. In addition, typically by engaging counsel early on in such fashion, many thousands of dollars is saved from having to defend against a FINRA enforcement proceeding and potential customer claims that could be triggered by the Brokercheck mark. Nothing entices Claimants' attorneys more in filing claims than marks on one's CRD. DO NOT ENGAGE YOUR PRIOR FIRM DIRECTLY - While you may think you can engage with the firm directly and save some money, such actions are foolish as you will only make life more difficult for any attorney you later retain to try to engage them as you would have made additional statements impacting their ability to alter the U5 DO CALL AN ATTORNEY IMMEDIATELY UPON RECEIVING A FINRA 8210 LETTER AND DON'T RESPOND ON YOUR OWN - If one happens to receive an 8210 letter from FINRA, once again it is important to retain a qualified FINRA attorney as soon as possible, so as to engage with FINRA before the representative gives any statement oral or otherwise. Those determined to handle such matters on their own soon learn that they were penny wise and pound foolish, as FINRA doesn't really care about apologies or the " I didnt know" defense. By engaging an experienced FINRA attorney early on in the process, who knows what FINRA does care about, it allows the lawyer to assess the situation and present the best defense possible, knowing what FINRA would need to prove based on the accusations at issue. However, it is much harder to properly defend someone who makes numerous statements to FINRA, effectively locking themselves in, or worse attending an OTR (On the Record) interview without counsel. If you follow the above guidance, it is much more likely that your termination will be a simple bump in the road, with no impact on obtaining a new position and no impact on your CRD. Further, if there is a FINRA investigation a FINRA lawyer will assist in seeing that it ends fairly quickly with perhaps as little as a simple non-reported FINRA letter of caution, like one of our recent clients received, after only $2,000 of legal time expended. It is common knowledge that FINRA looks at pro-se (self represented) broker who is without an experienced FINRA attorney like low hanging fruit waiting to be tarred and feathered - Don't be that low hanging fruit! Stuart David Meissner Esq. Free Phone Consultations Nationwide Affordable Representation Toll Free - 866-764-3100 |
AuthorStuart D. Meissner Esq. is an experienced FINRA attorney who has practiced law for over 27 years, including as a FINRA Attorney, Securities Regulator and Prosecutor. Archives
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