Overview
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) is a private corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) for the securities industry in the United States. FINRA, formerly the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), creates and enforces rules for its members based on the federal securities laws. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) oversees FINRA.
Our Practice
Carlton Fields attorneys handle FINRA regulatory investigations and enforcement matters across the country. We also handle FINRA arbitrations of industry and customer disputes and appeals of FINRA matters. Our clients include broker-dealers, registered representatives (individuals licensed to sell securities), and associated persons (APs) (anyone engaged in the securities business who is directly or indirectly controlled by a FINRA member, and management personnel).
We handle all stages of FINRA proceedings, from responding to informal and formal requests for information, representing clients during on-the-record testimony, representing clients through the Wells process, hearing preparation, FINRA enforcement hearings, and appeals of National Adjudicatory Council decisions to the SEC. We also advise broker-dealers and associated persons on Form U4/U5 matters, including BrokerCheck disputes.
Our team of lawyers includes more than three dozen attorneys, including a former FINRA senior director and senior litigation counsel from FINRA’s litigation group, and several former high-level SEC attorneys from the SEC’s divisions of enforcement, corporation finance, investment management, trading and markets, and the trial unit.
Our team works closely with Carlton Fields’ FINRA and SEC regulatory attorneys who advise broker-dealers and APs on various FINRA regulatory and compliance issues. When the need arises, our team works seamlessly with Carlton Fields’ SEC Enforcement Practice and other practice areas to handle related matters.