Courtesy of Larry Doyle.
How do the executives running FINRA reconcile that mandate with the fact that problematic issues raised by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) back in the mid-1990s continue to be outstanding today? In a recent letter sent by Markey to FINRA CEO Richard Ketchum, the Senator from Massachusetts writes,
I was alarmed to learn that arbitration awards and settlements do not show up in FINRA’s BrokerCheck database because brokers have been able to successfully expunge the information.
Investors cannot protect themselves from dishonest brokers if they cannot determine whether brokers with whom they are considering investing their funds have large or repeated settlements or awards due to their wrongdoing or mismanagement.
Second, I am appalled that $51 million in arbitration awards granted to investors in 2011 remain unpaid.Investors are required to participate in FINRA’s arbitration program if they have a claim against their broker. If an investor successfully proves their claim but is never paid, the integrity of the entire system is threatened.
Finally, I question FINRA’s record in tracking rogue brokers if, as reported earlier this month, over 5,000 stockbrokers from firms expelled by FINRA are still selling securities, a practice commonly known as “cockroaching.”
Markey goes on and informs Ketchum that after having read and reviewed recent stories brought to light by The Wall Street Journal,
. . . I learned that many of the same problems I had identified and believed had been corrected by the industry in the early 1990s continue to plague the securities industry.
As was then, is now, and without meaningful change in the self-regulatory system on Wall Street, will likely forever shall be.
For those who would like to read and review all of Markey’s 4-page letter to Ketchum, I welcome sharing it.?
Those watching closely are well aware of the serious issues raised by Markey for the welfare of the general public. Markey’s points beg the question as to who FINRA is really protecting.
Navigate accordingly.
I thank the many readers who brought this to my attention.
