Agency Foe Supports Broker’s Defense in FINRA Federal Court Bout

Broker-dealer firm Southeast Investments, N.C. Inc. and its president have company in their Fourth Circuit case over FINRA sanctions against them, after a public interest group that often seeks to curb agency power filed a brief in support of the broker-dealer.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a private regulator, and its personnel “are largely exempt from many of the basic checks, balances, and transparency requirements designed to protect individuals from overzealous governmental coercion and punishment,” the New Civil Liberties Alliance said in its friend of the court brief filed Tuesday.

• FINRA wields executive power in violation of the Constitution, and ...