Securities Regulation Compliance

Russell C. Weigel IIl
Email
786-888-4567
5775 Blue Lagoon Drive
Suite 100
Miami, Florida 33126

Russell C. Weigel, III, assists financial services providers manage their legal exposure to attacks from regulators and customers. Mr. Weigel encourages firms of all sizes and ages to maintain a close rapport with experienced securities counsel. He assists fledgling firms organize and obtain requisite broker dealer and investment adviser licensing, among others.

Having investigated many broker dealers, including bank broker dealers, investment advisers, and investment companies, Mr. Weigel knows well that every securities industry organization registered with a state or federal securities regulator is a potential deep pocket target for a plaintiff’s attorney or an opportunity for government publicity at the firm’s expense. On behalf of the SEC, Mr. Weigel has sued numerous investment advisers, for example, for non-compliant performance advertising, record keeping, and disclosure violations. Such actions can result in, among other sanctions, license revocations, suspensions and large fines in addition to substantial or total loss of customer business and industry unemployability.

With SEC-registered investment company and investment adviser clients being audited by regulators on a profile basis, Mr. Weigel recommends that his clients perform periodic internal compliance reviews and corporate investigations to detect and cure problems before they can damage the firm or harm any investor. Such reviews should be performed by an attorney familiar with litigation risks and SEC and SRO rules, such as Mr. Weigel. Typically, the legal review process is designed to eliminate major liabilities and may focus on the firm’s policies, procedures and actual practice of supervisory functions, client agreements, advertising and marketing, order execution, record keeping, and customer complaint handling policies and procedures. Legal reviews may be supplemented with analytical support from an experienced accountant or securities analyst in identifying minor liabilities such as books and records deficiencies. Mr. Weigel has former SEC examiners and accountants personally known to him who can provide such assistance.

Unfortunately, many firms hire legal counsel only after a problem has arisen and after the regulators have conducted routine or cause examinations or after investors have suffered compensable losses. Of necessity, damage control is the strategy, including voluntary reparation of any injured investor, possible restriction of employee activities, heightened supervision, or summary discharge of certain employees, and cooperation with and advocacy to the regulatory staff to deter the escalation of an inquiry into a public enforcement proceeding. When clients receive document and/or testimony requests by subpoena or by letter or perhaps become defendants or respondents in regulatory actions, Mr. Weigel advises his clients on the probable outcomes of any course of action so that clients make informed choices of their risks and probable costs.

Foreign Compliance Counseling
Advocacy to foreign securities regulators is becoming increasingly necessary as the technological ability increases to disseminate globally, intentionally or inadvertently, securities marketing and offering materials and securities products. Foreign regulatory agencies are both becoming more abundant and more active. Most foreign jurisdictions which have enacted a securities regulation scheme have patterned their laws and rules after those of the SEC. Thus, it can be more efficient and less expensive for a firm to hire an attorney familiar with SEC rules, regulations, and procedures when there is a need to demonstrate the firm’s position and compliance to a foreign regulator. Mr. Weigel is available to assist clients in avoiding or overcoming foreign regulatory hurdles.

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