Securities Law Commons^™

Broker-Dealer: A Fiduciary By Any Other Name?, William Alan Nelson Ii

William Alan Nelson II

Broker-dealers, unlike investment advisers, are not regulated as fiduciaries when providing investment advice, even though broker-dealers are holding themselves out as financial advisors and offering virtually identical services to investors. The lack of consistent regulation of financial service providers arises from the structure in which advice historically has been delivered. Financial services regulation since the Great Depression has developed along roughly dual tracks: laws governing the sale of financial products, which may or may not require that the products be suitable for the customer, and laws governing investment advice, which impose a fiduciary requirement on the adviser to act solely …

Take It Or Leave It: Unconscionability Of Mandatory Pre-Dispute Arbitration Agreements In The Securities Industry, William Alan Nelson Ii

William Alan Nelson II

The pervasive use of mandatory pre-dispute arbitration agreements in the securities industry is a relatively new phenomenon. However, research reflects that an overwhelming majority of retail brokerage and investment advisory agreements include language requiring that all disputes between the customer and the broker-dealer / investment adviser be resolved through arbitration – most often with Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Dispute Resolution. Thus, only in rare instances can an investor open either a brokerage or investment advisory account without agreeing to submit to mandatory pre-dispute arbitration.

The enclosed article is the first to focus on the fairness of mandatory pre-dispute arbitration …