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FINRA: Broker numbers up for first time in years

12:56 08 May in In the News by rafferty

May 4, 2023 By Dan Shaw, Financial Planning   The number of people joining the brokerage industry increased for the first time in several years in 2022, driven by wealth managers joining both pure-play broker-dealer firms and hybrid outfits with an advisory arm. That's according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's latest industry snapshot, released on Thursday. The number of registered representatives at brokerages rose to 620,882 in 2022, up from 612,435 the previous year. Although that was only a modest 1% increase and the 2022 total came in below the 629,475 registered reps recorded in 2018, it still marked the first time the figure had climbed in at least the five previous years. Increases were seen in both the number of firms registered solely with FINRA, the broker-dealer industry's self-regulator, and so-called hybrid outfits with advisory arms...

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Ex-Cetera branch manager wins $500K over breakdown of M&A deal

22:48 02 May in In the News by rafferty

April 28, 2023 By Tobias Salinger, Financial Planning Nearly seven years after a Cetera Financial Group branch's succession plan fell apart, FINRA arbitrators held its regional directors liable for damages of more than a half a million dollars. Betsy Jo Merritt won an award of $512,500 in compensatory damages from Janice G. and John D. Cartwright of Long Beach, California-based CLG Wealth Management after accusing the Cetera Advisor Networks regional directors of tortious interference with contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, negligence and state business laws.  Financial Planning obtained the arbitration filing alleging that an agreement for Merritt to sell her branch, also known as an office of supervisory jurisdiction, to a then-Cetera financial advisor named Joseph E. Singleton for $2.1 million was undercut when the Cartwrights recruited two advisors from Merritt's group to their own firm....

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Cetera to advisors: Selling your practice requires our OK

12:45 31 March in In the News by rafferty

March 29, 2023 By Bruce Kelly, Investment News If financial advisors don't seek the firm's approval, they risk running afoul of securities regulators, Cetera said.   In a major brokerage firm move that appears to some to be coming out of left field, Cetera Financial Group recently alerted its roughly 8,000 financial advisors that selling their practices, often the most valuable asset an advisor owns and controls, requires the approval of the firm. If advisors don’t seek Cetera’s OK, they risk running afoul of securities regulators, particularly the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., and could even be barred from the industry, according to Cetera. Cetera’s warning to advisors comes as the mergers and acquisition market for all types of advisory practices and firms remains active, even in the face of rising interest rates, last year’s market downturn...