Archive for the ‘Top Stories’
Who the Hell is Jeffery Epstein?
Nobody knows him. How is it possible that more people on Wall Street know my name than know Jeffery Epstein, a supposed BILLIONAIRE hedge fund manager? Quite frankly, until he was arrested I had never heard of him in almost 30 years in the securities industry. I have met or spoken to nearly every owner […]
Different Regulations for Different Firms?
One Size Does Not Fit All Firms As I continue this drive to be on the FINRA Board of Governors I will continue to update members on the glaring need for regulation that is not built around one size fits all. Over the years the SIPA has pointed out how many of the most onerous […]
Busacca for the FINRA Board
It’s Now or Never Put me on the FINRA Board of Governors In 2004 I formed the Financial Industry Association (FIA) as an advocate for small broker dealers and reps and began successfully challenging the election process. In 2007 I formed the Securities Industry Professional Association (www.theSIPA.com) and began endorsing our members to serve in […]
Nominating Petition
PETITION FOR NOMINATION Financial Industry and Regulatory Authority, Inc. 2020 Board of Governors Election in accordance with applicable By-Laws of FINRA I hereby certify that I am an Executive Representative of a FINRA member firm and as such I am eligible to cast one vote for the following candidate. I hereby nominate the following candidate […]
DTC Monopoly Must End
Via the SEC Portal Office of the Secretary U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 100 F. Street NE Washington, D.C. 20549 Re: Comment Letter to SEC Release No. 34-88474; File No. SR-NSCC-2020-003 Dear Ms. Countryman: The Securities Industry Professional Association (“SIPA”) hereby submits its comment letter to SEC Release No. 34-88474, File No. SR-NSCC-2020-003 (the […]
Wake up America!
II know for many this has been a trying time and we are truly sorry if you or a loved one has been affected. However, at some time we all have to stop being snowflakes and stop curling up like children being grounded. We are doing things today that have unintended consequences that nobody has thought about.
Demand for Firms Could Increase
Puzzling SEC enforcement action The Securities and Exchange Commission recently brought an action against John Fierro and his company JDF Capital(JDF) for violations of…..rule 144? We have read the release, we have consulted with known securities lawyers and I can safely say we are not alone in trying to figure out why this action was […]
We can do better
Too many barred representatives is a bad look for our industry On its web site FINRA now posts a complete list of all registered representatives since 1999 that have been permanently barred from the industry. The sheer enormity of this list is quite shocking when you consider this does not include reps that may have […]
Mea Culpa on PCAOB Relief
Despite progress, no end in sight due to Trump For years the SIPA and its members have joined with others in the cry for regulatory relief from the expenses of PCAOB audits. There has been glimmers of hope and some progress made over the years but at the end of the day we are still […]
Caveat Emptor
Dangerous Move by FINRA FINRA has done a relatively good job of providing members with access and guidance to the complex world or regulations we cope with. From guidance on Cyber, Crypto and Reporting, they have provided more guidance than at any time in the last fifteen years. In the 1990’s if you had a […]
Mark Cuban: “SEC Useless”
Sorry Cuban, you are not part of the club In a recent interview, Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank TV personality Mark Cuban went off on the SECV and claimed they were worthless. Click here to read entire interview . While Cuban has had a few run ins with the SEC we think the ego […]
Game of Thrones for FINRA
Board Elections here again. The recent completion of the final season of Game of Thrones has left a void for many fans that still have many questions that are unanswered. FINRA however has come to the rescue to fill this void just in the nick of time with their annual elections for the board of […]
Suspicious Activity Reporting: Just report every client
Suspicious Activity Reporting: Just report every client FINRA Guidance causes more confusion than clarification FINRA recently came out with a Regulatory Notice to Members providing guidance for red flags and when to file a SARS report. For this action we say job well done and it is long overdue because many members have been asking […]
FINRA Proposal Could Jeopardize Small Firms
FINRA Proposal Could Jeopardize Small Firms Firms Net Capital could be sky rocketing FINRA recently asked member for comment on a new rule proposal that is nothing more than an attempt to raise the Net Capital Requirement of member firms. However, if some aspects of these proposals go through we believe FINRA could be culpable […]
Are commissions really the problem?
For a long time the SIPA has wondered why there is an obsession with the amount of money a broker earns on any transaction. The 5% “Guideline” that is the holy grail of rules even though it is considered a guideline is outdated and not reasonable in this day and age of compliance and regulatory […]
The Communist Revolution Coming to Wall Street?
Brokers better beware of the drum beat The past two years has seen a return to somewhat normal regulations on Wall Street as Donald Trump has lifted and or modified many of the burdensome regulations strangling capital formation for much of the last 10 years. The market has responded with robust earnings, record unemployment and […]
Government proves AML and SAR’s are worthless
Why burden brokerage firms? For years we have questioned why the federal government relies on brokerage firms to do a laundry list of cartwheels and hoop jumping to fight potential terrorism. September 11th 2001 was 17 years ago and every month FINRA and the SEC take dramatic and draconian action against firms for not seeing […]
NIBA and SIPA join forces!
National Investment Banking Association (NIBA) and The Securities Industry Professional Association (SIPA) have agreed to join forces to work on behalf of small broker dealers and Registered Representatives to advance more thoughtful regulation that advances business and capital formation while protecting investors in a more efficient manner. Recently SIPA and NIBA were proud to support […]
The Establishment and Trump
FINRA and the Small Firm Advisory Board Recently Chip Jones of FINRA made a podcast with Wendy Lanton who is head of the Small Firm Advisory Committee. Please click here to watch this interview For years now mass media, political pundits and people on the left and right scratch their head and cannot figure out […]
A call for action.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support during the most recent election for the Small Firm seat on the FINRA Board of Governors. I was thrilled and extremely honored to receive the phone call this week from Robert Cook/FINRA telling me that I won. I look forward to working […]
How many board members does it take to screw in a light bulb?
24 caret board members get’s expensive The recent election of Paige Pierce to the FINRA board had us doing some head scratching. While we acknowledge the small firm representation and large firm representation on the board of governors, is it too much for members to ask for a scale back on the sheer number? Currently, […]
SIPA Member Paige Pierce Wins FINRA Board Seat
Is it time for optimism for small firms? FINRA recently announced that Paige Pierce has won a seat on the FINRA board of governors to represent the roughly 3000 small firms that are still left. The SIPA has supported her in her past elections for the NAC and the board and we were proud to […]
Facebook vs. FINRA
Social Media is the fall guy for all the other spy games On a near weekly basis we are subjected to the endless cries from Congress about the invasion of rights on American citizens by the social media and search engine giants of silicon valley. Millions have recently begun closing their Twitter and Facebook accounts […]
FINRA Double Dipping
FINRA has a curious punishment policy With a heat wave covering much of the country, I am reminded of the Ice cream shops and trucks that all the neighborhood kids ran to in order to get the coldest and best ice cream. We had one shop that had the specialty of doing a double dip […]
Papa John Mob Hit
Where is the SEC? As the fallout from Papa John’s founder and former CEO continue to reverberate, we think it’s time to take a closer look at what exactly has happened. As most of you know, John Schnatter aka “Papa John”, was recently booted from the company in a highly publicized dismissal that basically was […]
PCAOB RELIEF FINALLY HERE?
Let Paige Pierce finish the job! To my Small Firm colleagues, I would like to take this opportunity to let everyone know that I have thrown my hat into the ring for the FINRA Board and I would really appreciate your support in getting my name on the ballot. To earn my spot on the […]
The Godfather meets The Sting
Was Hillary Clinton an unwitting pawn? If you are an ardent follower of The SIPA, you know that our basic principles for surviving Life, Wall Street and Regulation are to: 1) Follow the Money 2) Use common sense 3) Every life lesson or parallel can be found in the movie ‘The Godfather” For over 10 […]
Supreme Court Tackles Constitutional Limits of SEC
FINRA could be next if SCOTUS rules as expected The SCOTUS is hearing a case right now that may change the way the SEC and possibly FINRA have been conducting business for many years now. The SEC has used Administrative Law Judges (ALJ’s) for some time to hear cases and appeals regarding SEC enforcement. These […]
TWO TIER JUSTICE SYSTEM
FBI and FINRA suffer from the same problem Former FBI director James Comey has spent the last year making conflicting if not hypocritical statements about everything from Hillary Clinton’s e-mail server to Trump’s alleged Russian collusion. He literally has become a pathetic looking sap of the political parties and the press as he flips […]
BROKER BEWARE !
FINRA/SEC WATCHING TRUMP CAREFULLY The recent raid of Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s offices should have every broker and owner of a brokerage firm trembling today. When news broke of this on Monday, our first thought was this is an outrageous and unconstitutional act that puts us all in uncharted waters. Attorney client privilege (ACP) appeared […]
TRUMP TAKES ON AMAZON?
Securities Regulation Suffers The SIPA has been rather obvious in its support of President Trump both before and after the election. Not to gloat but we did correctly predict in 2015 what everybody thought was impossible and correctly called the press and democratic/republican meltdown. Click here so we can gloat! Donald Trump vs Peter Pan […]
Lessons from Parkland
Making laws that don’t matter The recent horrifying events in Florida have caused many to become unhinged in their rush to prevent this sort of tragedy from happening again. Admittedly, as a father of a high school teen, I do not know how I would react if faced with the same horrific event. The media […]
Are You Not Entertained?
If Americans only knew In the famous movie “Gladiator”, the young and insane new Caesar named Commodus has a myriad of problems stemming from a failing economy, years of war and a weird crush on his sister. As the members of the senate begin to press him for solutions, he soon realizes he is way […]
Justice Is Truly Blind
We have been outspoken about the FINRA Arbitration and Hearing system for many years now. However, despite our constant chirping in this matter we continue to wonder if FINRA is upholding Justice or are they just plain blind? Case and point: FINRA Hearing Panel Bars Broker for Defrauding Elderly, Blind Customer WASHINGTON — The Financial […]
Small Firm Committees : a waste of members money
Is it really worth it? After years of fighting for small members rights, we are beginning to question whether its worth it financially to continue with any of these elections nationwide. The Financial Industry Association (FIA) and later the SIPA , along with others like attorney and small firm advocate, Bill Singer of Broke and […]
THE REAL HACKING OF THE 2016ELECTION
How Wall Street Tried to Influence the 2016 Election The 2016 election was possibly the greatest election upset in the history of U.S. politics. Donald Trump was a novice, first time candidate who had never even been elected dog catcher but here he was on the big stage taking out one by one, the biggest […]
EBAY and ISIS
EBAY and ISIS The US Government has uncovered a global scam in which members of the barbaric terror group ISIS were using EBAY to launder money and send cash to foreign operatives. In this scam, a terrorist with an EBAY account would take pictures of fictitious items, offer them up for bid or purchase […]
The Misunderstood Male
Understanding Finances and Women? As I journey through this incredible life I have been blessed with, I have learned so many amazing things. After 51 years I can honestly say I learn something new each and every day about myself, others and the world we live in. As a person in the financial world, it’s […]
BUYER BEWARE
The rule of any transaction since the days of Caesar has always been “Buyer Beware. The rise of the stock market the last few years has us thinking the same thing. Is the economy really this good that the markets have doubled in the last five years? Donald Trump was elected President largely because of […]
ELECTION TIME AGAIN
Make your voice heard! It’s that time again when owners of Broker Dealers get slammed with phone calls, emails and faxes asking for their vote. While his can be a little annoying at time we urge you to remember that this is the right we fought for years ago. There was once a […]
WIRE TAPS, LEAKS, SURVEILLANCE AND MUSLIM BANS
FINRA members are shaking their heads at America. As a long time member of the Financial Industry with over 25 years of battle scars under my belt, it never ceases to amaze me how clueless the majority of the people are in this country to what is actually occurring. I often talk to my fellow […]
TRIPLE PLAY
Puzzling moves by the Democrat party One of the rarest feats in all of sports is the triple play in baseball. Despite the fact that around 250,000 baseball games have been played over the last 140 years, the ‘triple play’ has occurred only 709 times in that span or roughly every 350 games played. It’s […]
Will Trump Change Regulation on Wall Street?
A chance for regulatory reform in the future Now that the Trump hysteria has settled down and the ‘snowflakes’ have stopped protesting in the streets and the mass media has finally lifted their collective jaws off the carpet, it’s time to look at some of the proposals that Trump has made that could impact our […]
A guy walks into a bar and….
The beginning of many great jokes always starts off with the proverbial “Guy walking into a bar and orders a drink.” This month we thought we would analyze a scenario from three different perspectives and ask from three different perspectives why some are regulated and others fall through the cracks. An 18 year old […]
Wells Fargo: Crime Does Pay
We have been monitoring closely the events of the last few months and it appears that rules and laws are in place but are often ignored or enforcement is very selective. Small brokerage firms in particular have seen their compliance cost and burden soar due to nonstop rule making that continually requires yet […]
FINRA Finally Listening to the SIPA
FINRA board to discuss an arbitration fund for investors For many years the SIPA has analyzed the actions and rules of FINRA and we have always been left puzzled as to how they cannot see the answer staring them in the face. In some instances, they have taken a simple problem and made it […]
WiKi Leaks and FINRA/SEC
Will the inevitable happen sooner or later? Wiki Leaks and its founder Julian Assange have spent the better part of three years tormenting the most powerful country and people in the world. From Hillary Clinton to the NSA, they have been brazen in their attack and release of previously classified emails on a variety of […]
FEELING THE BERN OR GETTING BURNED?
Sanders might be guilty of a Pump and Dump The recent announcement that the Democratic National Convention was a rigged race from the moment it started comes as no surprise to anyone who has followed the Clinton’s over the last three decades. Wiki Leaks released over 20,000 emails in which the head of the DNC […]
The Insanity Must End!
Time to Stop Attacking Brokerage Firms Americans have witnessed firsthand the acts of terror here in our homeland and abroad in Europe. We are constantly reminded to stay vigilant and to make sure we report everything we see that we deem suspicious. Despite this constant reminder from government officials, we have seen time and again […]
FINRA Model May Not Be Sustainable
FINRA has recently released its annual audited financials and as an organization, it’s not a pretty trend and one has to wonder if big changes need to be contemplated now rather than later. While the Accountants at FINRA have tried desperately to squeeze out some sort of profit for FINRA for many years now, it’s […]
