Securities Enforcement and Litigation

Our recent experience includes:

• FINRA Hearing, FINRA NAC Appeal, and SEC Appeal: after eight years of litigating, the SEC set aside FINRA’s findings of liability against our client who was accused of unethical conduct and violating firm procedures
• successfully defending an independent broker-dealer and its president in an enforcement action trial before an SEC administrative law judge and on appeal to the SEC, relating to the supervision of the sale of mutual funds. We argued against the Division of Enforcement on appeal, and the SEC affirmed our arguments
• representing a broker-dealer and its affiliated insurance company in investigations of revenue sharing and marketing payments by the SEC, FINRA, a state securities commission and the US House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor. The investigations lasted more than three years. After extensive briefings, meetings, testimony and negotiations, we convinced each entity to close its investigation without action
• serving as nationwide counsel for an independent broker-dealer, successfully resolved a series of related SEC, FINRA, Massachusetts Securities Division, and other State regulatory matters, class actions and over 300 FINRA arbitrations
• winning a four-week bench trial on behalf of a brokerage firm/investment bank and an individual investment banker, against allegations of securities fraud, common law fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty