A former Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC registered representative attempted to pay $3,800 to purchase an Outback Bowl VIP Club Membership, which included tickets for the New Year's Day 2016 game. By the end of 2016, the Respondent stockbroker was terminated for allegedly submitting expenses for reimbursement that were either not business related or not paid by her. In 2019, FINRA's OHO barred the stockbroker; and, after an appeal, in 2022, FINRA's NAC affirmed. Now, in 2023, the SEC rules on her appeal.
In today's blog we consider the plight of two registered representatives seeking to obtain expungements of customer complaints by filing FINRA Arbitration Statements of Claim in 2017 and 2018. Both reps wound up appealing their respective FINRA Arbitration Award to state court, where each won a vacatur of the Award. Thereafter, each rep re-filed their expungement claims, but FINRA declared the matters ineligible for arbitration. That set in motion appeals to the SEC, and the federal regulator remanded the matters back to FINRA for arbitration. Indeed, justice delayed is justice denied -- but what are we to make of justice that is endlessly delayed?