The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is developing a suite of “big data” information sources and analytics to improve regulatory oversight of securities firms, according to Carlo di Florio, FINRA’s chief risk officer and head of strategy. Leveraging technology and analytics can make for a “unique moment in regulation [that lets regulators] see things they couldn’t have seen or understood as well before,” di Florio said at an event this week hosted by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association compliance and legal society. More on Reuters [...]

Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP has completed its review of the disciplinary actions reported by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in 2013. By reviewing FINRA’s monthly disciplinary notices, Sutherland Partner Brian Rubin and Associate Andrew McCormick found that in 2013 FINRA’s fines dropped significantly but FINRA brought nearly the same number of disciplinary actions as it did in 2012. Sutherland also identified the top enforcement issues for FINRA in 2013, as well as emerging trends. More on MarketWatch [...]

Wall Street’s industry-funded watchdog will propose banning settlements in disputes between brokerages and investors that require investors to not oppose erasing details about complaints from brokers’ public records, its chief wrote in a letter to two U.S. senators released on Friday. Settlement agreements that provide additional compensation to investors who allege they lost money because of their brokers’ advice, in exchange for not trying to block the removal of black marks from their brokers’ records, could interfere with determining if a broker is entitled to such relief, wrote Richard Ketchum, chairman and chief executive of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. More on Reuters [...]

Two U.S. senators want Wall Street’s industry-funded watchdog to clarify and strengthen standards for allowing stock brokers to wipe details about investor complaints from their public disclosure records, according to a letter dated Monday. The bipartisan request to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) from Senator Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island, and Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, stems from a study by a group of securities arbitration lawyers that suggested brokers are often successful in erasing or “expunging” details in a particular circumstance. More on Reuters [...]

Wall Street’s industry-funded watchdog is developing a new rule that would require clearing firms to regularly provide it with data about brokerage transactions, U.S. regulators said on Tuesday. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority would use that information to conduct more robust examinations of the securities brokerage industry, said Richard Ketchum, the regulator’s chairman and chief executive. More on Reuters [...]

Wall Street’s industry-funded watchdog is trying to fast-track investigations and disciplinary cases involving risky brokers who may pose the greatest threats to the investing public, an official said on Wednesday. Brokers who already have “an extensive disciplinary history with numerous substantive complaints” could be barred from the industry more quickly as a result of the change, said Susan Axelrod, head of regulatory operations for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. More on Reuters [...]

A range of solutions has emerged for dealing with a growing problem of brokerages that skip out on paying arbitration awards they owe to investors. Each, however, is far from perfect. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Wall Street’s self-funded regulator, is evaluating whether it needs to address an issue that some investor advocates say is getting out of hand: brokerages that lose securities arbitration cases against investors and then close up shop, leaving those investors unable to collect. More on Reuters [...]

Broker-dealers should better manage conflicts of interest at their firms by more closely monitoring broker compensation and reviewing new financial products, among other practices, according to findings published late Monday by Wall Street’s industry-funded watchdog. The report on conflicts of interest in the broker-dealer industry, conducted by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, follows from a process that began last year when FINRA said it would begin requesting information from 14 firms. The regulatory authority launched the review out of concern that certain financial incentives, including commission-based compensation to brokers, could lead to promotions of products that may not be the best choice for investors. More on Reuters [...]

The U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority may require brokerage firms to carry insurance to cover the payment of arbitration awards to investors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. FINRA, Wall Street’s industry-funded watchdog, will consider whether brokerage firms should be required to have “errors and omissions” insurance, which can cover legal claims, said Susan Axelrod, FINRA’s executive vice president of regulatory operations, according to the newspaper. More on Reuters [...]