FINRA

Matthew Madera has become the latest former JPMorgan private client advisor to be sued after leaving for another firm. In a recent stipulated order, he agreed to stop soliciting former clients until the dispute can be resolved.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is probing broker-dealer firms involved in taking small foreign companies public, the latest effort by a regulator to crack down on pump-and-dump schemes.

Also this month in our disciplinary digest, a now-barred 'problem broker' for Stifel lands his former firm another hefty settlement, and an advisor is accused of fraud for trying to poach clients from his old firm.

Also this month in our disciplinary digest, a frequent CNBC analyst is sentenced to five years in prison for defrauding investors, and a former Fidelity advisor faced charges after borrowing millions from clients.

The question has turned into something of a paradox because of the related, but different, rise of RIAs and how that has affected independent brokerages.

The tide is in the wirehouse's direction in its fights with advisors who've left for rival firms.

The mega bank had tried to resist going before FINRA arbitrators by arguing its brokerage unit wasn't involved in an $8.4 million fraud scheme. The victim and a federal judge disagreed.

The win for Morgan Stanley comes after a recent string of victories against brokers who left for rival firms. But as the outcome in the JPMorgan case shows, firms don't always prevail.

Morgan Stanley is under investigation by FINRA over how it vetted clients for money-laundering risks, adding to existing federal scrutiny of its wealth-management and trading units.

Chuck Roberts, whose recommendations of structured notes landed the St. Louis firm a nearly $133 million arbitration award, was kicked out of the industry after ceasing to cooperate with a regulatory investigation.

The accusations led to the end of 16 years at the firm.

Panelists on a FINRA arbitration board cited Randy Anderson's claims of age discrimination when questioning UBS's reasons for firing its former broker. Now UBS argues in a court filing that no evidence of discrimination was ever presented.

A FINRA arbitration panel's decision marked a rare rebuke for a large wealth manager seeking to reclaim money it provided an advisor recruited from a rival.

George "Keith" Demetriades was accused of violating nonsolicitation clauses and misappropriating trade secrets after leaving for an RIA in 2023.

Now at Wells Fargo, Matthew McCrea is accused of violating a nonsolicitation agreement he signed at JPMorgan. The suit echoes allegations JPMorgan made days earlier against a broker now at Morgan Stanley.

An advisory panel has recommended changes that would bring arbitration rules for RIAs into line with those now governing FINRA proceedings for broker-dealers. The proposal still has to get through the SEC.

Retired investor Tracy Driver alleges he was encouraged to put millions into a now delisted media company and then lost more through unauthorized sales of "prized" shares in Nvidia, Microsoft and Alphabet.

Randy Anderson worked as a broker for nearly 25 years without a complaint before being accused of making unauthorized trades by a client who, his lawyer says, actually ended up saving money.

Investor advocates and others worry that recent changes to who can serve on FINRA panels will exclude arbitrators most likely to be sympathetic to ordinary investors.

Experts say that there are pitfalls, rules and procedures that departing financial advisors should know. Problem is, too many act first and consult lawyers later.