FINRA registration
September 28th 2008 22:54
So, the US government is on a massive bail out frenzy. I'm not going to discuss all the why's because there are plenty that have already done that. What I do think is necessary is that FINRA should require anyone in banking to have a license. Currently those selling investments need to be licensed and those selling insurance need to be licensed by their individual states. Realtors need to have a license which is also covered by states. BUT, the people in the bank that you talk to when you enter a branch....do not necessarily: only if they are licensed to sell investments and insurance which many are not. But there are still issues with the licensing itself.
I'll tell you my views through my prior experiences.
At Wells Fargo Bank, I wanted to obtain a Series 6 or 7 license. I was denied the opportunity to better serve my clients by my manager: scheduling reasons were cited. That aside, I was often working with a dubious group. I was hired, and given little training before being expected to open new accounts on my own. I was given lists of clients with significant balances to call about making investments...even though I had little experience or knowledge of them....and no licensing. I had a HELOC quota, again with no experience and little training. I was given FARM lists of properties that likely had significant available equity to call on. Where the CONSUMERS failed themselves; signing documents without fully understanding the terms. They trusted the banks. Why?
At Citibank, to be a business banking officer, I was required to get Series 6 and 63 licenses and a CA insurance license. To me, an interesting observation was that people that failed the exams on their 2nd try, and fired by Citibank, were able to find other positions at banks. With intense sales quotas looming we were given a freebie on our continuing education studies. We were offered cheat sheets. Hmmm. It seems that cheating circumvents the point of CE. But thankfully at Citibank, when it came to signing documents, we were left to our own specialties.
I left Citibank to go to Mutual of America for several reasons. First, politics were keeping me from significant commissions that the rules said I should have received. Secondly, the operations were so ancient - as was my office...rats in ceiling and all...unprofessionally dressed tellers, manager, bankers, etc.; it just didn't seem to represent the brand. I was not proud to find new business for my branch even though Citibank offers many great products. But I saw many ridiculous behaviors; bankers selling insurance to employees in order to make their quotas, non-disclosure, lack of knowledge, lack of training....and certainly the tellers often looked like they were better suited to McDonalds. It was embarassing.
At Mutual of America, I was told to study a Product Manual and was given pop quizzes by the VP of my office in Long Beach. Then, without any formal training on 401(k) or 403(b) plans I was given call lists to prospect for new clients by phone. My goal? Get clients to transfer their employee retirement plans. The more I learned about the complexities of plans the more I couldn't believe what the VP asked me to do. I was also given lists of clients who were nearing retirement or had changed employers, giving them to opportunity to transfer funds to an IRA. Yes, to transfer money within the company. LOL. AND, without very much training on the rules. It basically went against everything I had been taught about ethics in financial services. AND it was my rent check. Hmmmm. I later discovered that one of my colleagues who had been promoted was signing of on annuity contracts without a California Insurance License. I called my peeps at other companies, and they all agreed it was against the rules. So i called the CA dept of insurance out of curiosity: they concurred. After 18 months I was let go for a lack of production just as a client alleged they would likely transfer over 2.5 million. Oh well. I had already paid for my Masters degree tuition abroad. No major problem. I mean, just a few months before I saw ethics pushed a little. We had a sales incentive trip to Scottsdale, AZ. We were allowed to buy whatever drinks we wanted so long as we ordered a food item so the bill would qualify as a write-off. Apparently or trip to the Four Seasons was a tax write-off as long as we were doing a certain/substantial amount of business. We received a sort of schedule to commence meetings around 8am/8:30am I don't remember exactly. But the meetings were always dismissed after we ate breakfast. So really the tax write off was for our adventures hiking, touring in Jeeps, playing golf, lounging around the pool and drinking up a frenzy. It was significant to me, because my colleagues at Citibank had a completely different experience: they really had meetings with Senior Management....and did significant business. I just find it all funny considering that Mutual of America's roots lie in Not-for-Profit/Non-Profit.
So yes, the sub prime mortgages were a big problem. But not the sole problem. The people in front of the client are pushed to sell to the client. As a smart admin assistant once said...its much like the film, The Firm. As an employee, you have to play the game. But there should really be more licensing, more due diligence and recourse for employees that see the rules are a-miss.
But I will add this. If I ever returned to financial services, it would be to work with Michael Crupi who is an estate planner in the Los Angeles area. The ethics and knowledge he taught me...his dedication to clients...his humility...and his dedication...would all make it worth going to work. You can find him at www.michaelcrupi.com. He's the most educated and ethical financial services guy I know. And how I wonder....why did Michael go out on his own? He was working for Fortune 500 companies? Why? He saw the limitations of a big corporation's sales goals.
I'll tell you my views through my prior experiences.
At Wells Fargo Bank, I wanted to obtain a Series 6 or 7 license. I was denied the opportunity to better serve my clients by my manager: scheduling reasons were cited. That aside, I was often working with a dubious group. I was hired, and given little training before being expected to open new accounts on my own. I was given lists of clients with significant balances to call about making investments...even though I had little experience or knowledge of them....and no licensing. I had a HELOC quota, again with no experience and little training. I was given FARM lists of properties that likely had significant available equity to call on. Where the CONSUMERS failed themselves; signing documents without fully understanding the terms. They trusted the banks. Why?
At Citibank, to be a business banking officer, I was required to get Series 6 and 63 licenses and a CA insurance license. To me, an interesting observation was that people that failed the exams on their 2nd try, and fired by Citibank, were able to find other positions at banks. With intense sales quotas looming we were given a freebie on our continuing education studies. We were offered cheat sheets. Hmmm. It seems that cheating circumvents the point of CE. But thankfully at Citibank, when it came to signing documents, we were left to our own specialties.
I left Citibank to go to Mutual of America for several reasons. First, politics were keeping me from significant commissions that the rules said I should have received. Secondly, the operations were so ancient - as was my office...rats in ceiling and all...unprofessionally dressed tellers, manager, bankers, etc.; it just didn't seem to represent the brand. I was not proud to find new business for my branch even though Citibank offers many great products. But I saw many ridiculous behaviors; bankers selling insurance to employees in order to make their quotas, non-disclosure, lack of knowledge, lack of training....and certainly the tellers often looked like they were better suited to McDonalds. It was embarassing.
At Mutual of America, I was told to study a Product Manual and was given pop quizzes by the VP of my office in Long Beach. Then, without any formal training on 401(k) or 403(b) plans I was given call lists to prospect for new clients by phone. My goal? Get clients to transfer their employee retirement plans. The more I learned about the complexities of plans the more I couldn't believe what the VP asked me to do. I was also given lists of clients who were nearing retirement or had changed employers, giving them to opportunity to transfer funds to an IRA. Yes, to transfer money within the company. LOL. AND, without very much training on the rules. It basically went against everything I had been taught about ethics in financial services. AND it was my rent check. Hmmmm. I later discovered that one of my colleagues who had been promoted was signing of on annuity contracts without a California Insurance License. I called my peeps at other companies, and they all agreed it was against the rules. So i called the CA dept of insurance out of curiosity: they concurred. After 18 months I was let go for a lack of production just as a client alleged they would likely transfer over 2.5 million. Oh well. I had already paid for my Masters degree tuition abroad. No major problem. I mean, just a few months before I saw ethics pushed a little. We had a sales incentive trip to Scottsdale, AZ. We were allowed to buy whatever drinks we wanted so long as we ordered a food item so the bill would qualify as a write-off. Apparently or trip to the Four Seasons was a tax write-off as long as we were doing a certain/substantial amount of business. We received a sort of schedule to commence meetings around 8am/8:30am I don't remember exactly. But the meetings were always dismissed after we ate breakfast. So really the tax write off was for our adventures hiking, touring in Jeeps, playing golf, lounging around the pool and drinking up a frenzy. It was significant to me, because my colleagues at Citibank had a completely different experience: they really had meetings with Senior Management....and did significant business. I just find it all funny considering that Mutual of America's roots lie in Not-for-Profit/Non-Profit.
So yes, the sub prime mortgages were a big problem. But not the sole problem. The people in front of the client are pushed to sell to the client. As a smart admin assistant once said...its much like the film, The Firm. As an employee, you have to play the game. But there should really be more licensing, more due diligence and recourse for employees that see the rules are a-miss.
But I will add this. If I ever returned to financial services, it would be to work with Michael Crupi who is an estate planner in the Los Angeles area. The ethics and knowledge he taught me...his dedication to clients...his humility...and his dedication...would all make it worth going to work. You can find him at www.michaelcrupi.com. He's the most educated and ethical financial services guy I know. And how I wonder....why did Michael go out on his own? He was working for Fortune 500 companies? Why? He saw the limitations of a big corporation's sales goals.
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