Posts from April 2020.

The Tenth Circuit joined a majority holding that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) permits modification of an arbitration award for a “material miscalculation of figures” if the miscalculation is “evident” on the face of the award and precludes consideration of the underlying record.

Section 11 of the FAA provides:

In either of the following cases, the United States court in and for the district wherein the award was made may make an order modifying or correcting the award upon the application of any party to the arbitration—

(a)         Where there was an evident material ...

Tags: FAA

The dispute-resolution arm of broker-dealer regulator FINRA has canceled all in-person arbitration hearings and mediation sessions through July 3, 2020.  In-person hearings originally were canceled through May 1, then extended through May 31.  The update also indicates that FINRA will waive postponement fees on stipulated postponements from July 6 through September 4.  FINRA will provide Zoom or telephonic hearings in matters where the parties agree or the Panel orders it.  FINRA staff will be notifying parties and counsel in individual matters and to discuss rescheduling ...

Posted in: FINRA

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has held that new arguments for vacatur or modification first raised over 90-days post-award do not relate back and may not be considered under the State’s version of the Uniform Arbitration Act.

The Court held that an amended pleading seeking to vacate an arbitration award delivered over 90 days earlier does not relate back to the original pleading date (within the 90 days) under Tenn. R. Civ. P. 15.03.

The 90-day limitations period within which to move to vacate under Tennessee’s Uniform Arbitration Act, Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-5-301 et seq., is ...

Posted in: Arbitration

On April 9, FINRA amended its customer arbitration rules to give customers more options when a Respondent firm or associated person becomes “inactive” during an arbitration.

The largest percentage of unpaid customer awards in FINRA arbitrations are those against Respondent firms or associated persons who are “inactive” – that is, whose FINRA membership has been terminated, suspended, canceled, or revoked.  Those “inactive” Respondents are out of the business – and often just out of business, period.

FINRA Rule 12202 requires a customer Claimant to ratify, by ...

Posted in: FINRA

On April 9, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”) filed with the SEC a temporary rule change that waived certain late fees and delayed some key compliance deadlines.

Municipal securities dealers and municipal advisors are required to inspect each office of supervisory jurisdiction annually and to conduct annual testing, review and executive-management certification of their systems of supervisory controls and compliance.  See MSRB Rules G-27(b)(vi), 27(f)(i) and G-44(d).  The rule change provides that those functions will be “deemed” timely completed ...

In the past week, the Securities and Exchange Commission has suspended trading in five separate over-the-counter (“OTC”) stocks due to dubious COVID claims or related identity confusion.

The latest order came Thursday, April 9, when the SEC suspended trading in Turbo Global Partners, Inc. over claimed ability to provide non-contact testing equipment.

On Wednesday, April 8, when the SEC suspending trading in BioELife Corp. f/k/a US Lithium Corp. (“LITH”) over claimed production of a COVID-19 prevention product line, coupled with manipulative trading indicia.

On ...

On April 2, Chair Clayton said the SEC would hold firm on the June 30 compliance deadline for Regulation Best Interest (“Reg. BI”) and Form CRS, but suggested early examinations might focus more on compliance efforts than results.  The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) issued two April 7 Risk Alerts providing firms with guidance on what to expect during those early-phase examinations.

As expected, OCIE indicates its exams will focus on whether firms “have made a good-faith effort to implement policies and procedures reasonably designed ...

Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Jay Clayton issued an April 2 public statement that the SEC will hold firm on its June 30, 2020 deadline for firms to implement Reg. BI and Form CRS.  There had been industry speculation that the SEC might push that compliance deadline back in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regulation Best Interest (“Reg. BI”) was adopted by the SEC last June in the wake of the turmoil from the Department of Labor’s “Fiduciary Rule” – a preemptive regulatory incursion into financial markets outside DOL’s usual “portfolio” that resulted in a ...

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”) on April 2 published its statistical analysis and list of COVID-19 continuing disclosures filed by municipal issuers during the first quarter of 2020.  Of 43,667 disclosures, 506 were related to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 15c2-12 requires all underwriters of municipal securities to require municipal issuers to enter an agreement that issuers will file continuing disclosures of events that may have a material effect upon bond repayment.  Although the COVID pandemic itself is not ...

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