Wall Street employers love non-compete agreements because by the time the ex-employee leaves the penalty box, the ex-employer has done everything possible to retain the business (often while trashing the former employee). As veteran litigator Aegis Frumento sees it, non-competes often are a career-suicide pact. So, it was a rare treat for Aegis to read the 72-page opinion issued by Delaware Vice Chancellor Zurn in Ainslie v. Cantor Fitzgerald LP. that found a non-compete unenforceable.
In 2018, a registered representative filed a FINRA Arbitration Statement of Claim seeking to expunge eight customer complaints from her industry record. A FINRA arbitrator dismissed the case. After the rep filed an appeal, in 2020, the judge vacated the FINRA arbitration. The rep re-filed her expungement case with FINRA, which told her that her claims were ineligible for adjudication in its forum. They weren't ineligible when she paid FINRA's fees to start the process in 2018; but, after a court vacated the arbitration award, now, for some reason, FINRA the gate-keeper refuses to raise the gate. Why are we reporting about this crap five years later? Because the mess wound up at the SEC, which has to rule on FINRA's closed-gate policy.
The Financial Professionals Coalition, Ltd. endorses a letter to FINRA authored by Ronald Filler, Esq, who is a Co-Founder of the Coalition, Professor Emeritus/Chair of the Ronald H. Filler Institute for Financial Services Law at New York Law School, and a Public Director of the National Futures Association (“NFA”). Filler petitions FINRA to eliminate the requirement that persons seeking to be employed in the securities industry must be sponsored by a Member Firm before they are allowed to take the Series 7 registration exam.
The Financial Professionals Coalition, Ltd. is a diverse resource for over 1.2 million registered representatives, associated persons, traders, bankers, back-office staff, and owners of broker-dealers and registered investment advisors. The Coalition provides courtesy consultations with industry experts. Membership is free.