Reuters
A federal court judge threw out a lawsuit by Charles Schwab Corp that had sought to stop its regulator from disciplining the brokerage for trying to take away customers’ rights to sue it in class actions. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California late on Friday granted […]
Bloomberg
American business entered its Teflon era on a spring day 25 years ago. Lawyer Madelaine Eppenstein had taken the morning off from work for a parent-teacher event at her 5-year-old’s elementary school on June 8, 1987, when she was summoned to the principal’s office for an urgent call. Her husband and law partner, Theodore Eppenstein, […]
SmartMoney
The scenario is not unlike those Olympic lowlights of yore: A Soviet gymnast flubs the floor exercise; a moment later, the Soviet judge scores the routine a perfect 10. Such has been the experience for many investors as they’ve sought compensation from their brokerage firms for everything from alleged misrepresentation to supposed breaches of fiduciary […]
Financial Planning
In a rare move, a FINRA arbitration panel sided with a financial advisor who claimed his former firm, Lincoln Financial Advisors, defamed him after a firing, and ordered the firm to pay $2 million in damages. Lincoln Financial Advisors had abruptly terminated Jeffrey Concepcion in August 2008, according to the arbitration filing, and then withheld […]
Dow Jones Compliance Watch
Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. has let anyone who cares know how he feels about the system that obliges investors and employees at brokerage firms to take all disputes to arbitration. Cogburn, a U.S. district court judge in North Carolina, expressed a deep dislike for the mandatory arbitration system managed by the Financial Industry Regulatory […]