The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) have, in two separate recent settled enforcement actions involving off-channel communications (“OCC”), imposed fine...more
4/24/2024
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Electronic Communications ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
With limited amendments to its proposed rule, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), a division of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, recently promulgated its final rule (the “Reporting Rule”) implementing the...more
On May 25, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) provided notice of proposed rulemaking aimed at Investment Advisers (“Advisers”), Investment Companies and Business Development Companies (collectively...more
6/6/2022
/ Business Development Companies ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Form ADV ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Funds ,
NPRM ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Registered Investment Companies (RICs) ,
Regulation BI ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Insider trading is a front-and-center issue for the SEC, and consequently must be for financial services firms as well. The SEC included misuse of material non-public information (MNPI) on its list of 2022 exam priorities for...more
5/11/2022
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Insider Trading ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Risk Alert ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
Potentially as soon as late 2022 or early 2023, a new U.S. regulatory requirement will come into effect which will affect over 25 million existing business entities and another 3-4 million new entities each year. The...more
Garcia Case Highlights Necessity of Knowing Your Customer and Listening to Internal Fraud Watchdogs.
The SEC’s recent Order against a broker-dealer (the “Firm”) imposed a $750,000 financial penalty for the Firm’s failure...more
10/21/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Consent Order ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Know Your Customers ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Risk-Based Approaches ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Unregistered Brokers
Key Takeaways:
..On August 13, 2021, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 21-29 (“RN 21-29”) to remind member firms that they must establish and maintain an adequate supervisory system, including written supervisory procedures...more
8/18/2021
/ Books & Records ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Security ,
Due Diligence ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Internal Controls ,
New Guidance ,
Outsourcing ,
Professional License ,
Risk Management ,
Supervision ,
Third-Party Service Provider
In case you were wondering if you can still push off finalizing your Form CRS filing, posting it on your website and delivering it to clients, the SEC has read your mind and answered loudly: no more! On Monday, the SEC...more
Given the continued popularity of recommending wrap fee programs to clients, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Division of Examinations (“DOE”) recently released a Risk Alert dated July 21, 2021, wherein it...more
There has recently been a rash of similar anonymous whistleblower tips to public companies, each claiming that an unnamed company supervisor boasted about reaping profits from insider trading. The number of public companies...more
For the past decade, anti-money laundering (“AML”) has been at the forefront of securities regulators’ priorities. Indeed, AML enforcement cases have resulted in some of the highest fines imposed by securities regulators,...more
6/7/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Fines ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Internal Controls ,
Regulatory Violations ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
FINRA recently filed a Complaint against a Chief Executive Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of a registered broker-dealer alleging, among other things, that the individual caused the broker-dealer to have wide-ranging...more
Being a small business owner is tough. You often wear several hats and juggle multiple responsibilities while you try to build a successful business. This is especially true for small financial services firms that are subject...more
In a troubling recently-released Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”), FINRA fined three Cetera Firms a total of $1,000,000 for failing to conduct the appropriate suitability review and to otherwise satisfy their...more
In a recent decision by a FINRA Office of Hearing Officers Panel, FINRA barred a registered individual who failed to produce his personal IRS tax transcripts, which were not in his immediate possession but rather maintained...more
On September 23, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) entered an Order Instituting Administrative and Cease and Desist Proceedings (“Order”) against a broker-dealer, JonesTrading Institutional Services,...more
FINRA’s final adjudicative body, the National Adjudicatory Counsel (“NAC”) recently issued a decision, affirming a Hearing Panel decision, sanctioning Silver Leaf Partners, LLC (“Silver Leaf”) for making improper payments to...more
“Statutory disqualification” as defined under Section 3(a)(39) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“the Exchange Act”), prevents a person under a statutory disqualification from associating with any FINRA Member Firm...more
The SEC's Office of Compliance and Examinations (OCIE) issued a risk alert on July 10th about its observation of an apparent increase in sophistication of ransomware attacks on SEC registrants, including broker-dealers,...more
The SEC’s Office of Compliance and Examinations (OCIE) issued a risk alert on July 10 about its observation of an apparent increase in sophistication of ransomware attacks on SEC registrants, including broker-dealers,...more
7/17/2020
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) ,
Malware ,
OCIE ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Alert ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
FINRA recently provided additional guidance on firms’ obligations to actively supervise the trading and performance of non-traditional exchange-traded funds (“NTETFs”) within their customers’ accounts. Specifically, in a...more
U.S. Securities firms are on the frontlines of one of the most volatile economic periods in history. With the Dow Jones Industrial Average flirting with the 30,000 mark in February, few firms could have predicted that the...more
A recent Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) order imposed sanctions on a financial institution for failing to reasonably supervise a representative’s conduct. In its findings, the SEC highlights the institution’s...more
4/15/2019
/ Best Practices ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Financial Institutions ,
Investigations ,
Investment Adviser ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Professional Misconduct ,
Registered Representatives ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Securities Act ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Violations
The SEC continues to reiterate the role of broker-dealers as “gatekeepers to the securities markets” by focusing on firms’ anti-money laundering (“AML”) obligation. The import that the SEC, as well as FINRA, places on firms’...more
6/1/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
BSA/AML ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Customer Identification Program (CIP) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
OCIE ,
Personal Liability ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
On November 21, 2017, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 17-40 to provide member firms guidance regarding their obligations under FINRA Rule 3310 (Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Program) in light of the Financial Crimes...more