Commentary on FINRA arbitration, Reg BI, the Investment Advisers Act fiduciary duty, the SEC Marketing Rule, and the recurring patterns in broker-dealer and RIA misconduct cases. Written for investors and their counsel.
The four component obligations of the SEC's Regulation Best Interest, how they differ from the fiduciary duty owed by registered investment advisers, and where the standard has real bite in customer disputes.
Read article →Why the IPS — together with the new-account form and the advisory agreement — anchors most viable claims, and what to look for when the document on file doesn't match the way the account was actually managed.
Read article →Concentration claims are among the most reliably winnable suitability cases. The thresholds that arbitrators tend to credit, the role of the firm's own concentration guidelines, and the difference between investor-initiated and adviser-initiated concentration.
Read article →The pre-dispute arbitration agreement, FINRA Rule 12200, and the strategic implications of arbitrating customer disputes instead of litigating them — discovery, panel composition, and the limits of appellate review.
Read article →Why non-traded real estate investment trusts and business development companies generate a disproportionate share of customer claims — the liquidity disconnect, the fee structure, and the recurring sales-practice issues.
Read article →SEC Rule 206(4)-1 fundamentally rewrote the rules for adviser marketing — including hypothetical performance, testimonials, and third-party ratings. How those changes shape misrepresentation and omission claims against RIAs.
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