U-5 Filings and Expungement

U-5 Filings and Expungement Attorneys

The Uniform Termination Notice for Securities Industry Registration, or U-5, is a form that brokerage firms must file with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) when a registered representative leaves his/her firm. The form, which is required to be filed within 30 days of the representative’s departure, must indicate the reason(s) for the departure and identify whether the representative was fired, left voluntarily, or was permitted to resign. In addition, the U-5 must detail whether the representative was the subject of customer complaints or under internal or external investigation for alleged violation of the securities laws and/or industry rules and regulations. The member firm is also required to provide the representative with a copy of their U-5 within 30 days of departure. Sometimes, member firms include in a representative’s U-5, materially false or misleading information and/or defamatory information detrimental to the representative’s reputation and livelihood. When this happens, the aggrieved representative has numerous options to protect his/her interests. For example, the representative can negotiate a change to the U-5, file for an expungement against the member firm to remove (or expunge) the defamatory information from his/her U-5 and/or file a lawsuit for defamation.

The U-5 is stored in FINRA’s Central Registration Depository (“CRD”) and made accessible to all FINRA member firms. Thereafter, a summary of the U-5 is made available to the public through BrokerCheck, FINRA’s online tool that allows investors to research the professional backgrounds of brokers and brokerage firms, as well as investment advisers and advisory firms.

An accurate U-5 is important to a registered representative’s reputation and livelihood. A false and/or defamatory U-5 can harm a representative’s business and prevent him/her from employment or registration at a desired brokerage firm.

Requesting expungement is a rigorous process in which claimants must present evidence that falls squarely within the boundaries of the three narrow grounds for expungement. Freiberger Haber LLP provides representation to registered representatives and investment/brokerage firms involved in disputes over the information contained in a registered representative’s U-5. For more information about the Firm’s services, contact us.