January 29, 2013
The proposed FINRA requirement for a website link to a brokers disciplinary record is overreach of the regulatory organization. Many brokers have marks on their records that are over 5 or 10 years old and are not relevant to his/her current practice. Instead of focusing on managing a client's portfolio to the best of his/her abilities, the representative will have to spend valuable time and energy explaining an infraction to a client that may have happened 15 years ago written with a FINRA summary often made to look more onerous than it really is. Doctors and attorneys are not required to disclose disciplinary problems to their patients or clients on their websites so why single out the brokerage industry? The current BrokerCheck system in place is satisfactory as a client can access a broker's record if he/she so desires. FINRA should also consider deleting infractions over 5-10 years old if the broker has a clean history from that point forward. This proposed rule is FINRA's version of making a broker wear the Scarlet Letter.