FINRA Will File Enforcement Actions for Improper Sales of ETFs and ETNs Throughout Florida and the United States!

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced plans to file enforcement actions against certain brokerages in connection with unsuitable sales of leveraged and inverse leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs), as well as for failure to train their brokers who sell them (see Reuters article by Suzanne Barlyn and Jessica Toonkel entitled “FINRA to bring cases over leveraged, inverse ETFs”). The article cites former FINRA Enforcement Chief Bradley Bennett as the source of this information, and notes that he refused to identify the broker-dealers that FINRA plans to sue. Bennett reportedly told lawyers at a Practising Law Institute (PLI) seminar in New York that the enforcement actions will “make statements” about how broker-dealers should ensure that registered representatives are properly trained about these complex products and the types of customers for whom they may or may not be suitable.

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Watch Out Inverse ETF and ETN United States and International Investors!

The SEC and FINRA are finally stepping up to regulate nontraditional ETFs and ETNs and to ensure that these complicated products are not sold to unsophisticated investors. Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Morgan Stanley, UBS Financial Services Inc. and Wells Fargo agreed to pay $9.1 million to settle allegations that they sold leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds to clients who had no business investing in the complex instruments.

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