Broadcast Date: Thursday, August 06, 2020
from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm (ET)
Overview:
New regulatory and legislative developments continue to reshape the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration landscape. One of the sweeping changes today is FINRA’s temporary shift to remote operations and virtual arbitrations in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Proper planning and assessment of the “new normal” must be carefully considered by practitioners to avoid the pitfalls which virtual hearings may entail. Other significant updates include FINRA’s overhaul of its Membership Application Program (MAP) rules and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) approval of FINRA rule setting a minimum fee for brokers’ expungement request.
With arbitration filings expected to skyrocket due to the pandemic, being conversant with the latest developments is crucial for practitioners to gain favorable results for their clients.
In this LIVE Webcast, a seasoned panel of thought leaders and professionals brought together by The Knowledge Group will provide an in-depth analysis of the issues and recent developments in FINRA arbitrations. Speakers will offer a comprehensive guide to properly represent parties before the mostly mandatory FINRA tribunal, especially during these most difficult times of COVID-19, in-person appearances with travel restrictions, and
- Maintaining and Building a Best in Class FINRA Practice from managing costs to policing risks to tackling virtual hearings and most significantly to avoiding the bite of a bad arbitrator.
- What happens if you win an award? Will it be paid, and if so, when? Interplay between FINRA’s 30-day payment rule and statutory limitation periods for motions to vacate awards in State and Federal Court. If not paid, should you attempt to trigger expedited FINRA Rule 9554 proceedings against the member firm and associated persons to suspend their FINRA licenses until they pay the award? Are these proceedings actually expedited, and can you reasonably rely on this process to help collect on payment? Update on FINRA’s overhaul of its Membership Application Program (MAP) rules to deal with deadbeat firms and associated persons with unpaid FINRA Awards.
- Brokers Beware. Disclosure obligations including customer complaints, liens and other financial problems. Some things cannot be expunged. And, just when you thought FINRA could not make the expungement process any worse, it did. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s pending approval of FINRA rules setting a minimum fee for brokers’ expungement request and other conditions which will put the expungement process into a deep freeze for the mere mortal brokers.
- How Final is the F in FINRA? Limited grounds for vacated by statute so Awards should be final, right? FINRA cases gone wild – three case studies in vacatur actions – arbitrator disclosures and monetary sanctions; Panel’s refusal to grant a request for continuance, whether reasonable or not; and can you move to vacate when the last day of the hearing conducted on Zoom leads the losing party to conclude the Panel was inattentive? With FINRA’s current shift to remote operations and virtual arbitrations in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in-person hearings may be postponed for a long time. Proper training and use of the “new normal” technology must be considered by practitioners as well as by Arbitrators. Would more changes to the Portal help?
Credit:
Course Level:
Intermediate
Advance Preparation:
Print and review course materials
Method of Presentation:
On-demand Webcast (CLE)
Prerequisite:
General knowledge of FINRA arbitration
Course Code:
148448
NY Category of CLE Credit:
Areas of Professional Practice
Total Credits:
2.0 CLE
How to Claim CLE Credits Per State:
https://knowledgewebcasts.com/how-to-claim-cle-credits-per-state/
CLE State Requirements:
https://knowledgewebcasts.com/cle-state-requirements/
CPE State Requirements:
Speaker Panel:
Debra Jenks, Partner
Jenks & Harvey LLP
Ms. Jenks has over 30 years of legal experience representing financial institutions, wirehouses, independent broker-dealers, insured broker-dealers, investment professionals, officers and directors, and financial advisers in retail, industry, and employment disputes as well as in compliance and regulatory matters. She defends registered persons and entities in regulatory matters. She has represented retail and institutional investors in securities matters and arbitration.
Tracey Salmon-Smith, Partner
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Tracey Salmon-Smith is a partner at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP in the Business Litigation Department. She is a member of the Financial Services and Best Interest Compliance teams. Tracey represents broker-dealers before FINRA in arbitrations and mediations related to allegations of sales practice violations and failure to supervise claims. She also handles regulatory inquires, as well as discrimination, whistleblower claims, work-place harassment, wrongful discharge, U5 defamation matters, and expungement proceedings. Previously, Tracey served as in-house counsel at UBS Financial Services Inc. in the litigation group and served seven years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY). She graduated from Villanova University School of Law. She received her undergraduate degree in English from Dartmouth College.
Margaret L. Watson, Shareholder
Littler Mendelson P.C.
Margaret L. Watson has more than 25 years of experience in employment litigation, internal investigations and alternative dispute resolution. She has litigated numerous cases in federal and state courts as well as in arbitrations (FINRA, AAA, JAMS) and agency proceedings. She regularly defends employers and individual managers in cases involving discrimination and retaliation claims under Title VII, Section 1981, ADA, ADEA, FLSA, FMLA and related New York State and City laws, as well as common law tort and contract claims, including U-5 defamation claims and the enforcement of restrictive covenants. For approximately ten years, Margaret was employed by a large national wealth management and financial services company, where she served as litigation counsel and also helped to design and manage the first corporate ombudsman office for the broker-dealer business of that company. Margaret is a graduate of Harvard Law School, and she began her career as a law clerk to the Hon. Whitman Knapp in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Jeffrey Plotkin, Partner
Finn Dixon & Herling LLP
Jeffrey Plotkin concentrates his practice on securities enforcement defense, complex private securities litigation and arbitration, and internal corporate investigations. Mr. Plotkin started his career in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, New York Regional Office, where he served as Staff Attorney; Chief of the Branch of Broker-Dealer Enforcement and Interpretations; and Assistant Regional Administrator.
Mr. Plotkin has represented clients in industry and customer disputes before FINRA Dispute Resolution (and its predecessors, NASD, NYSE, and AMEX) for over 25 years. Most recently, in Odeon Capital Group LLC v. Auriga USA, LLC, Case No. 16-00033 (Jan. 12, 2018), a FINRA arbitration panel, upon Mr. Plotkin’s motion, dismissed all claims against Mr. Plotkin’s client after eleven days of hearings on claimant’s direct case, and awarded Mr. Plotkin’s client a total of $400,000 in attorneys’ fees and expenses. The award was confirmed in a contested proceeding before the New York Supreme Court.
Agenda:
SEGMENT 1:
Margaret L. Watson, Shareholder
Littler Mendelson P.C.
- Maintaining and Building a Best in Class FINRA Practice from managing costs to policing risks to tackling virtual hearings and most significantly to avoiding the bite o bad arbitrator.
SEGMENT 2:
Jeffrey Plotkin, Partner
Finn Dixon & Herling LLP
- What happens if you win an award? Will it be paid, and if so, when? Interplay between FINRA’s 30-day payment rule and statutory limitation periods for motions to vacate awards in State and Federal Court. If not paid, should you attempt to trigger expedited FINRA Rule 9554 proceedings against the member firm and associated persons to suspend their FINRA licenses until they pay the award? Are these proceedings actually expedited, and can you reasonably rely on this process to help collect on payment? Update on FINRA’s overhaul of its Membership Application Program (MAP) rules to deal with deadbeat firms and associated persons with unpaid FINRA Awards.
SEGMENT 3:
Tracey Salmon-Smith, Partner
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
- Brokers Beware. Disclosure obligations including customer complaints, liens and other financial problems. Some things cannot be expunged. And, just when you thought FINRA could not make the expungement process any worse, it did. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s pending approval of FINRA rules setting a minimum fee for brokers’ expungement request and other conditions which will put the expungement process into a deep freeze for the mere mortal brokers.
SEGMENT 4:
Debra Jenks, Partner
Jenks & Harvey LLP
- How Final is the F in FINRA? Limited grounds for vacated by statute so Awards should be final, right? FINRA cases gone wild - three case studies in vacatur actions – arbitrator disclosures and monetary sanctions; Panel’s refusal to grant a request for continuance, whether reasonable or not; and can you move to vacate when the last day of the hearing conducted on Zoom leads the losing party to conclude the Panel was inattentive? With FINRA’s current shift to remote operations and virtual arbitrations in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in-person hearings may be postponed for a long time. Proper training and use of the "new normal" technology must be considered by practitioners as well as by Arbitrators. Would more changes to the Portal help?
Date & Time:
Thursday, August 06, 2020
12:00 pm to 2:00 pm (ET)
Who Should Attend:
- Securities Lawyers
- Finance Lawyers
- Compliance Officers
- Finance Executives
- In-house Counsel and Consultants
- Financial Institutions
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