"There's certainly been a recognition out there that there's a difference among those who were harmed by the auction-rate market and those who faced very real, practical problems," he says.
Consequential damages awards are "somewhat unusual," says Adam Gana, a New York-based securities lawyer, and it may not deter Wall Street from engaging in certain practices. The Finra panel, as is customary, didn't give an explanation for its award in the case. Still, Gana says, it shows how the Finra process should work when a brokerage has done something wrong.
"Claimants are starting to get their day in court and awards that reflect what they should get," he says.
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