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Financial Services

Blog

Recent Blog Posts

  • Fiduciaries of employee benefit plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) that appoint investment managers (“Appointing Fiduciaries”) will be interested in the opinion of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in Scalia v. WPN Corporation, et al (“WPN”) regarding their duty to monitor investment fiduciaries.  Given the potential risk related to a breach this fiduciary duty, the WPN opinion is likely to be an important one for Appointing Fiduciaries. In... More
  • On September 6, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California preliminarily approved a settlement in Harvey v. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC.  The significance of the result is two-fold.  First, substantively, it is a reminder to financial services firms of potential liability under California labor law when advisors are required to pay for business expenses.  Second, procedurally, the court’s approval of the settlement is edifying on the subject of parallel class actions. In the Harvey case, plaintiffs... More
  • On August 20, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) charged Mosaic Capital, LLC, formerly known as AOC Securities, LLC (“AOC”), and its CEO with failing to adequately supervise an employee who engaged in securities fraud.  Pursuant to the SEC Orders, AOC and its CEO were ordered to pay penalties of $250,000 and $40,000, respectively.  The SEC’s actions serve as a reminder to broker-dealers—and members of firm management—of the potential for liability based on the actions of a self-dealing employee,... More
  • Broker-dealers (“BDs”) should be aware that, on June 5, 2019, the SEC adopted “Regulation Best Interest” (“Reg BI”), which requires BDs and their registered representatives (“RRs”) to “act in the best interest of the retail customer,” when “making a recommendation” regarding “a securities transaction or investment strategy.”  In addition, the SEC’s new rules require BDs to deliver Form CRS relationship summaries (“Form CRS”) to retail customers.  BDs will need to be in compliance with Reg BI and Form CRS, which... More
  • For many, the topic of workplace violence may, understandably, exclusively invoke thoughts of the types of mass shootings and other employee-on-employee violence that commands the most extensive media coverage.  Financial services employers, though, like employers in other significantly public-facing industries, must address a broader array of concerns—ranging from threating behavior by clients, to domestic abuse spilling over into the workplace.  The legal framework that has, substantially in the past decade, come into being around issues of workplace violence in some... More
  • Our Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice now offers on-demand “crash courses” on diverse topics. You can access these courses on your own schedule. Keep up to date with the latest trends in benefits and compensation, or obtain an overview of an important topic addressing your programs. In each compact, 15-minute installment, a member of our team will guide you through a topic. This on-demand series should be of interest to all employers that sponsor benefits and compensation programs. In our newest installment, Tzvia Feiertag, Member of the Firm in... More
  • In the financial services industry, investigations by the government or self-regulatory organizations are commonplace, and because they inevitably involve employee conduct (or misconduct), there is frequently an internal employment-related investigatory component. With potential financial liability and reputational harm ever-present, the strength of a company’s investigatory process is critical. In a recent video webinar, John F. Fullerton III, co-leader of Epstein Becker & Green’s Financial Industry Service Team, spoke about when materials related to an internal investigation can and cannot be shared... More
  • This Employment Law This Week® Monthly Rundown discusses the most important developments for employers in August 2019. This episode includes: Increased Employee Protections for Cannabis Users First Opinion Letters Released Under New Wage and Hour Leadership New Jersey and Illinois Enact Salary History Inquiry Bans Deadline for New York State Anti-Harassment Training Approaches Tip of the Week See below to watch the full episode – click here for story details and video. We invite you to view Employment Law This Week® – tracking the latest developments that could impact you and your workforce.... More
  • Our colleague Amanda M. Gomez at Epstein Becker Green have recently published a post on the Hospitality Labor and Employment Law blog that will be of interest to our readers in the financial services industry: “Colorado Joins Wave of States to Offer Heightened Employee Protections.” Following is an excerpt: Additionally, employers that can demonstrate a good faith effort through proactive measures to comply with the Act may be able to mitigate liability should a claim arise. Similar to “safe harbor” provisions in equal pay laws in Massachusetts and Oregon,... More
  • On June 19, 2019, the New York State Senate and Assembly passed legislation that would, if signed into law, broaden the scope of last year’s ban on clauses requiring employees to arbitrate sexual harassment claims so as to prohibit such clauses with respect to all types of discrimination claims. As reported on this blog, this ban on mandatory arbitration clauses was deemed invalid, as contrary to federal law, by the June 26, 2019 decision of the U.S. District Court for... More