SmartMoney
The scenario is not unlike those Olympic lowlights of yore: A Soviet gymnast flubs the floor exercise; a moment later, the Soviet judge scores the routine a perfect 10. Such has been the experience for many investors as they’ve sought compensation from their brokerage firms for everything from alleged misrepresentation to supposed breaches of fiduciary […]
Financial Planning
In a rare move, a FINRA arbitration panel sided with a financial advisor who claimed his former firm, Lincoln Financial Advisors, defamed him after a firing, and ordered the firm to pay $2 million in damages. Lincoln Financial Advisors had abruptly terminated Jeffrey Concepcion in August 2008, according to the arbitration filing, and then withheld […]
Pepperdine University School of Law
Members of Pepperdine University School of Law’s Investor Advocacy Clinic, a branch of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, found success in their first two cases, while the results of a third case are pending. The Pepperdine Law Investor Advocacy Clinic was established in the fall of 2010 through a $250,000 grant from the Financial Industry […]
Dow Jones Compliance Watch
Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. has let anyone who cares know how he feels about the system that obliges investors and employees at brokerage firms to take all disputes to arbitration. Cogburn, a U.S. district court judge in North Carolina, expressed a deep dislike for the mandatory arbitration system managed by the Financial Industry Regulatory […]
USA Today
Citigroup’s tab for reimbursing clients who said the financial giant misled them into investing in risky hedge funds marketed as the safety equivalent of municipal bonds has soared to at least $85 million. And counting. The payments, awarded since 2008 in 59 arbitrations or settlements, represent just part of a continuing legacy of the nation’s […]