According to this recently updated study from Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, if you're willing to put the time in to challenge an SEC / FINRA disciplinary action - 8 to 15 months potentially - your brokerage firm could stand a good chance of seeing substantially reduced penalties and even have a decent shot at a dismissal.

Sutherland partner and study co-author, Brian Rubin, characterized the findings thusly, "...these studies should make firms and individuals think long and hard before they settle. In today's environment, with Congress and the public looking for blood, I think the regulators are going to ratchet up penalties and fines. If they do, it will make more sense than ever to carefully evaluate whether to settle."

Provided you're not stone guilty, of course - and provided you've got the right counsel. Make that any counsel. Those that went into proceedings without were 0-for-16 from January 2006 through December 2007. And one has to imagine that the odds aren't going to be getting better with the regulatory sea change brought about by the change in administrations.

You can check out the full Sutherland study right here.

--MDT

Labels: FINRA, SEC