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Today, we're going to answer the question “What is the Form U5?” Technically, the form is called the Uniform Termination Notice for Securities Industry Registration, and it is used whenever a person registered with a broker-dealer or a registered investment adviser terminates his or her resignati...

One of the questions we get from time to time is from a financial adviser who has called us and said, “FINRA wants to take my testimony, they've told me they want me to come in for an OTR. Why? Why do they want to take an OTR of me?” That's a good question. Essentially what it means when FI...

If you are an employer, you may have questions about whether you can have your employees sign a covenant not to compete, or not to solicit your clients or other employees. One of your questions is almost certainly whether those types of agreements can be enforced in Georgia? Some people bel...

If you're a financial adviser with negative disclosures on your Form U4 and in your CRD record, it really does make sense to see what you can do to clean that up. Those negative disclosures not only sit there and may cause problems when your prospects or clients review it, but it can also hinder ...

More often than you might imagine, I get a call from a financial advisor – someone who is a registered representative of a broker-dealer or an investment adviser representative of a registered investment adviser firm – and they ask a question like one of these: What do I need to know if I'v...

We get calls pretty regularly from financial advisors who've been asked to come in for an OTR, or an on-the-record interview with FINRA. And in an earlier video, we explained what an OTR is. In today's short video, we'll talk about how a FINRA OTR works. If you're going in for an OTR or an ...

If you've been terminated from a broker-dealer, regardless of the label placed on it such as a discharge or permitted to resign or even a voluntary termination under the cloud of an internal investigation, you've probably got some significant questions. What do I do now? How will this affect my c...

If you are considering purchasing a business, be sure to do your due diligence. What's that? Doing your due diligence means that you should conduct a detailed and thorough investigation of various facets of the bu...

You've corresponded with FINRA and answered some questions they had, or provided them a written statement about a matter. Now, you've received a letter from FINRA stating that they have referred your case to the Enforcement Department. What does that mean, and what might you need to do? In the sh...

In this fifth video in our blog series on understanding a FINRA exam, attorney Joel Beck discusses the “Wells” letter (or “Wells” call) as part of the FINRA examination or investigation process. The “Wells” notice is essentially the regulator providing the registered or associated person with off...

In this fourth installment of our video blog series on understanding a FINRA exam, attorney Joel Beck discusses the pre-complaint settlement tool utilized by FINRA, the Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) and shares some of the key features of this settlement, together with a word of c...

In this third installment of our video blog series, attorney Joel Beck discusses the three common ways that a FINRA exam gets resolved, either through the exam being filed without action, resolved through an informal action, or resolved through a formal disciplinary action against the registered ...

Some of the more common questions we receive from prospective clients focus on FINRA exams and include questions like: How are they started? What happens in them? What does it mean? How long does it take? What can happen? How do I deal w...

Every now and then, I get a call from a stockbroker who has had some type of criminal history disclosure on his Form U4 and wants to know if that can be removed. Typically, the event relates to some type of youthful indiscretion in high ...

In this series of posts on the basics of FINRA examinations, we're providing an overview of the examination and formal action disciplinary processes. Today's post discusses the two main types of FINRA examinations. FINRA examinations, or investigations, are generally characterized as either...