8 Top Enforcement Trends FINRA's Watching Now

Related: 10 Worst Financial Advisors in America: 2021

Members of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Enforcement team discussed multiple enforcement trends during a Thursday session at the online FINRA Annual Conference. "You're still seeing lying, cheating, stealing," according to Terrence Bohan, vice president of investigations for FINRA Enforcement. The only difference is that the brokers who are engaging in that kind of behavior have found different ways to accomplish their goals, he noted. For example, while in years past a "pump-and-dump" scam might have involved one "boiler room" with everybody working together in downtown New York, "today you're going to find the liquidator is in Dubai," he explained. The clients are also no longer being solicited by registered representatives at a FINRA member firm in many cases; now, they're being "solicited by unregistered entities" online and elsewhere who direct investors to make purchases from their own self-directed accounts, he said. For a look at that and seven other enforcement trends, take a look at the slideshow above.