Working with broker-dealers, RIAs, and wealth management professionals, we are a one-stop shop for clients in the financial services industry.
UB Greensfelder’s Financial Services Industry Group represents clients in the financial services industries – including broker-dealers, banks, advisors, and investment companies, among others – on a wide range of compliance, corporate, employment, and litigation matters.
Who We Are
UB Greensfelder’s financial services attorneys are experienced and work within multiple practice groups of the firm. While we are national in scope, representing many of the nation’s largest brokerages and financial service firms, such as JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, and Raymond James Financial, we remain proud of our strong regional roots, serving as counsel to many small and mid-sized firms, as well, not to mention individuals associated with those firms.
How We Help
Drawing from backgrounds in business, finance, and accounting, we provide a broad range of representation and counseling to clients in the financial services industry, including:
- litigation and dispute resolution
- internal investigations
- representation in regulatory proceedings
- counseling to brokers and advisors during the onboarding process
- negotiating, drafting, and enforcing non-solicit and non-competition agreements
- representing borrowers and lenders in financing transactions
- protecting intellectual property, trademark, copyright, and advertising rights for FinTech businesses
- managing the collection, review, and production of e-discovery data for litigation or regulatory matters.
We are proud to be trusted advisors to national, regional, and community-based banks and depository institutions, trust companies, broker-dealers, registered investment advisors, and other financial services firms.
How We Help
Our broker-dealer and RIA clients rely on our team to provide a broad scope of legal services, including:
- Litigating pre-suit customer complaints, defending claims filed in court or arbitration, and managing litigation risk by negotiating pre-suit resolutions and filing interpleader or declaratory judgment actions
- Litigating employment matters, such as cases involving trade secrets and alleged violations of non-solicitation agreements
- Defending broker-dealers and investment advisors against any charges in any setting, whether in court, in administrative proceedings, or in arbitrations
- Regulatory services, including internal investigation, self-reporting, negotiating and responding to discovery requests, handling on-the-record interviews, negotiating the resolution of such matters, and coordinating multiple investigations targeting the same conduct
- Assisting with protocol and non-protocol transitions, handling any corresponding litigation, and obtaining individual registration
- Supporting e-discovery data efforts, including the collection, review, and production of materials
- Providing guidance on policies and procedures relating to complex and alternative products, books and records, cybersecurity, data rights and data privacy, supervision, unclaimed property, due diligence, vendor management, etc.
- Reviewing business practices, business areas, and auditing
- Drafting and updating written disclosures relating to conflicts, product-specific risks, etc.
- Advising on compliance and regulatory issues such as SEC Regulation Best Interest (BI)
- Counseling on wage and hour issues and overtime
- Counseling on trademark protection, licensing, and other IP-related matters
- Creating customer/employment/succession planning agreements
- Preparing employment agreements
- Assisting with reportable events
- Providing a hotline to firms on issues related to trusts, estates, POA, and wills
- Structuring and forming financial services business entities
- Advising on intellectual property protection and enforcement relating to financial technology
- Advising and reviewing advertising materials, trademark, copyright, written communications, and other firm documents, such as Forms ADV, Form U4, code of ethics, promoter agreements, etc.
When bringing a new product line to market, financial services firms seek our counsel throughout the process, receiving guidance from start to finish. We create the policies, procedures, disclosures, and all relative agreements necessary to establish and document each transaction. Our team also guides clients through internal analysis, compliance, supervision, marketing and advertising, suitability, product review, development, due diligence, disclosures, and final agreements needed to bring the new product to market.
Why Clients Choose UB Greensfelder
Through decades of work in the industry and the annual Securities Industry Symposium that we host with the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, we have developed an ongoing working relationship and regular cadence with national and regional regulators, including the SEC, FINRA, and many state regulators. The symposium highlights cutting-edge topics for stakeholders in the financial services industry and provides regulators with the equivalent of a live focus group, providing all attendees with the opportunity to discuss trends in the industry, challenges with regulatory compliance, and other relevant topics.
