Eccleston Law Blog

Commonwealth Financial and Former Edward Jones Advisors Ordered to Pay $3.5 Million in Arbitration Award

April 9th, 2025 at 10:08 AM
An arbitration panel has ordered independent broker-dealer Commonwealth Financial and a group of advisors formerly with Edward D. Jones & Co. to pay $3.5 million following a legal dispute over their departure, according to an arbitration award.
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CFP Board Seeks Public Input on Changes to Certification Rules

April 8th, 2025 at 9:21 AM
The CFP Board is requesting public comment on proposed revisions to its procedural rules regarding certification eligibility for candidates with a single bankruptcy or multiple misdemeanor convictions related to alcohol or drug offenses.
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CFTC Unveils New Guidelines to Reward Cooperation and Self-Reporting in Enforcement Actions

April 7th, 2025 at 2:07 PM
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued a new advisory that formalizes how it will evaluate cooperation and self-reporting when determining penalties in enforcement matters. According to InvestmentNews, acting Chairman Caroline Pham announced the move as part of a broader shift in the agency’s enforcement posture, aimed at incentivizing faster case resolution and more reasonable penalties.
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LPL Financial Experiences Trading System Outage Amid Market Volatility

April 4th, 2025 at 11:49 AM
LPL Financial, the largest independent broker-dealer in the U.S., experienced widespread system outages on April 3rd, preventing advisors from executing trades for hours.
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FINRA Seeks Public Input on Rule Modernization

April 3rd, 2025 at 2:26 PM
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is conducting a comprehensive review of its rules and is soliciting feedback from industry participants. According to ThinkAdvisor, the review aims to modernize regulations, particularly concerning remote work and branch office requirements.
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Bybit Suffers Massive $1.5 Billion Crypto Hack Amid Security Concerns

April 2nd, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Bybit, a major cryptocurrency exchange, has fallen victim to a devastating security breach, resulting in the theft of approximately $1.5 billion in Ethereum.
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CFP Board Releases AI Ethics Guide for Its Certificants

April 1st, 2025 at 3:43 PM
The CFP Board has released a "Generative AI Ethics Guide" to address the growing use of artificial intelligence in financial advising.
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Margin Debt Hits Record Highs

March 31st, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Investors' use of margin trading has surged to unprecedented levels, with debit balances in margin accounts reaching a record $937 billion as of January 2025, according to FINRA.
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FINRA Arbitration Orders Stifel to Pay $133 Million Over Broker's Structured Note Strategy

March 28th, 2025 at 12:11 PM
A FINRA arbitration panel has ordered Stifel Financial’s retail broker-dealer to pay nearly $133 million in damages related to a structured note investment strategy promoted by Miami-based broker Chuck A. Roberts.
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FINRA Fines Robinhood $26 Million for Compliance Failures

March 27th, 2025 at 11:21 AM
According to Barron’s, FINRA has fined Robinhood Financial and Robinhood Securities $26 million for multiple rule violations, including failures in anti-money laundering compliance, inadequate supervision of trading technology, and misleading customer communications.
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LATEST NEWS AND ARTICLES

December 17, 2025
Audit Failures, Whistleblower Claims, and Renewed Scrutiny of the Big Four

A series of lawsuits, congressional findings, and high-profile corporate collapses has reignited long-standing concerns about the audit industry’s ability to confront fraud, as reported by Bloomberg Law.

December 16, 2025
Reminders for CFAs in Adhering to Compliance Standard, Client-Disclosure and Conflict Management Requirements

In 2023, the CFA Institute Board of Governors approved targeted revisions to the Standards of Professional Conduct, adding one new standard and updating two others.

December 15, 2025
FINRA Sanctions Former Merrill Broker for Unapproved Referral Payouts

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a six-month suspension and a $7,500 fine against former Merrill Lynch broker Jeremiah Householder after finding that he accepted referral commissions from an unapproved third-party lender.