The Law of the Financial Markets from Top Securities Lawyers
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Note: Mark Astarita was the legal columnist for Research Magazine from 1995 to 2000. This column was the first in of 5 years of monthly articles. BY MARK J. ASTARITA, ESQ. By now, you’re probably aware of Spring Street Brewing’s successful initial public offering completed last year. The company conducted […]
More brokers and firms are being forced to settle customer claims, particularly where the claim is less than the total arbitration expense. Settling the Matter By Mark J. Astarita, Esq. In June, we addressed how to avoid customer disputes. This month, we jump ahead to how to resolve them, either […]
Expectations have been raised by the media, claimants’ counsel and other pundits that a flood of arbitration filings will follow the conclusion of the $1.4 billion regulatory settlement regarding analyst conflicts. RESEARCH SETTLEMENT & ARBITRATION IMPACT: Expectations have been raised by media, Claimant’s counsel and other pundits that a flood […]
Part of the problem is simply our society. There is a problem in the mutual fund industry, and it goes well beyond market timing. Some of the market timing allegations have merit, because it appears from the information that is coming to light that fund managers told investors that they […]
Illegal insider trading is a serious securities law violation that carries potential civil and criminal penalties. Civilly, the penalties can be as large as three times the gross profit on the trading. An insider trading investigation by the SEC requires experienced securities counsel, as the initial investigation often dictates the […]
You can remove derogatory reports from your CRD Report. Call 212-509-6544 to discuss the process with a securities law attorney. The problems associated with FINRA‘s CRD Disclosure System are well known to visitors to SECLaw.com, as we have written about the issue a number of times. The concept of disclosing […]
By Mark J. Astarita, Esq. Introduction The Securities and Exchange Commission decided in May to test it’s new procedure – the one where they get to be the judge, jury and prosecutor, at the same time, and get to impose whatever sanctions they deem appropriate on a broker-dealer. When […]
After remand from court, arbitrators correct their award to comply with the applicable statutes. ALLISON v. MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH, INC., NASD ID No. 01-05877 (Tampa, 2/26/04). The Arbitrators issued an amended Award in this case, because the first time, when they tried to give the Claimant $1.00 […]
Again. The Abuse of Power. The second part of the story is undoubted of more interest to securities lawyers, judges, and law professors, but the rest of you should continue reading. Government abuse is a topic that affects all of us and unfortunately happens too often. The abuse involves quests […]
By Mark Astarita, Esq. Past columns have touched on the arbitration hearing itself and have raised the question just what happens during an arbitration hearing. It seems that there are a wide variety of ideas on just how those proceedings take place, and there is a substantial misconception regarding the […]
