FINRA’s new CEO, Robert Cook, faces many challenges as long-simmering issues over transparency and investor protections are likely to boil over during his tenure. The organization has received sharp criticisms from congress and industry experts complain that efforts to address concerns are not effective. PIABA President Hugh Berkson notes that the BrokerCheck system developed by FINRA provides incomplete, and therefore misleading, information to investors. The BrokerCheck system was intended to allow investors to obtain a broker’s work history, licenses, certifications, and violations but it lacks the transparency needed to effectively perform this function. PIABA, an organization of attorneys who represent investors, wants this matter resolved.
Hugh Berkson is a Securities Attorney with McCarthy, Lebit, Crystal & Liffman, Co. LPA. Hugh is rated AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell®.
He obtained a business degree in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin in 1989, and is a 1994 graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Barristers and received both the American Jurisprudence Award, (National Mock Trial) in 1993 and the Jonathan M. Ault Mock Trial Prize for 1993-1994.