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Author: rafferty

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Bill Hamm taps Pershing, lays groundwork for new IBD after LPL exit

17:00 20 May in In the News by rafferty

May 17, 2018 By Tobias Salinger, Financial Planning Just one month after saying it would leave LPL Financial, Bill Hamm’s Independent Financial Partners has taken a major step in laying the groundwork for its new independent broker-dealer by selecting Pershing as its primary custodian. The hybrid RIA and office of supervisory jurisdiction will launch its new IBD in the first or second quarter of 2019, Hamm said in an interview. With 530 advisors and $10 billion in assets under management, the new IBD will offer expanded choices, lower prices and better technology, Hamm added. Hamm’s April announcement that IFP would split from the nation’s largest independent broker-dealer marked the largest exit from LPL since Ron Carson’s firm left for Cetera Financial Group in early 2017. It also represented the largest practice to leave LPL...

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FINRA to Toughen Sanctions on Repeat Violators

15:44 08 May in In the News by rafferty

May 3, 2018 By Melanie Waddell, ThinkAdvisor The revised Sanction Guidelines also tell adjudicators to consider arbitration actions filed by clients against a broker. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is revising its Sanction Guidelines to instruct adjudicators in the disciplinary process to consider “customer-initiated arbitrations” that result in adverse arbitration awards or settlements when assessing sanctions. The broker-dealer self-regulator also advises adjudicators in Regulatory Notice 18-17 to impose “progressively escalating sanctions” on repeat violators to deter future misconduct. As it stands now, FINRA’s Sanction Guidelines instruct that a respondent’s disciplinary history should trigger higher sanctions when that disciplinary history: (a) is similar to the misconduct in the current disciplinary case; or (b) evidences a “reckless disregard for regulatory requirements, investor protection, or market integrity.” The newly revised guidelines adds a section instructing adjudicators to consider “customer-initiated...

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LPL Dinged Up to $26 Million Over Sales of Unregistered Securities

18:04 02 May in In the News by rafferty

May 2, 2018 By Diana Britton, WealthManagement.com An investigation by state securities regulators found the independent broker/dealer failed to prevent the sale of certain equity and fixed income securities that may not have been properly registered in their domains. LPL Financial has settled with the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) over claims it lacked proper policies and procedures to prevent the sale of unregistered, non-exempt equity and fixed-income securities over the last 12 years. ­­­­Alabama and Massachusetts state securities regulators led the investigation, which LPL's cooperation, and the settlement could be more than $26 million if all jurisdictions participate. LPL has agreed to pay $499,000 to 52 U.S. states and territories, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. California has not yet agreed to participate in the settlement. The...