From 1 August 2024, the UK changed its rules on how payments are made for investment research. UK firms may now use bundled payments for third-party research and trading commissions, subject to certain requirements being...more
8/15/2024
/ AIFM ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Listing Rules ,
MiFID II ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Research Funding ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UCITS ,
UK
On May 16, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted amendments to Regulation S-P (“Reg S-P”) that are intended to help protect investors’ privacy from the “expanded use of technology and corresponding...more
5/29/2024
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Customer Information ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
Notice Requirements ,
Personal Information ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Privacy Laws ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Regulation S-P ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The issue of how firms should pay for investment research continues to be a controversial topic in the financial markets. The U.S. has maintained the approach it adopted before the mid-2000s, which is to permit investment...more
7/3/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Market Research ,
MiFID II ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK
The issue of how investment research should be paid for by investors is controversial, long-standing and seemingly perennially the subject of legislative iterations, failure and unintended consequence and more reform. Before...more
On February 15, 2023, the SEC adopted several changes to shorten the standard settlement cycle for securities transactions to T+1 effective May 28, 2024...more
On January 10, 2023, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) issued its 2023 Report on FINRA’s Examination and Risk Monitoring Program (the “Report”). The Report, which is a more comprehensive version of FINRA’s...more
On December 17, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) staff (“Staff”) issued a statement (the “Statement”), which summarizes certain observations made by the SEC’s Standards of Conduct Implementation...more
On July 1, 2020, the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) issued Regulatory Notice 20-21 (the “Regulatory Notice”), which provides guidance to broker-dealers on compliance with FINRA Rule 2210...more
As the financial markets react to the COVID-19 pandemic, broker-dealers are increasingly looking for mechanisms to increase liquidity. Complicating matters is the fact that broker-dealers seeking liquidity must comply with...more
On June 5, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted Regulation Best Interest (Regulation BI). The goal of Regulation BI is to improve investor protection by: (1) enhancing the obligations that apply...more
I. Charting the Proliferation of Current Short Sale Bans and Other Actions -
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous European jurisdictions, including France, Italy, Spain, Greece and Belgium have enacted short...more
The economic and operational stresses caused by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) are highlighting the need for regulated financial institutions to formulate responses to address significant business disruptions (SBDs) and to...more
As the world responds to COVID-19, we have identified a number of compliance and legal considerations for asset managers. We summarize a select list of these in our note below....more
3/20/2020
/ Asset Management ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Commodity Pool ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cyber Threats ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
Futures ,
Information Security ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
Liquidity ,
NFA ,
Registered Investment Companies (RICs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Short Selling ,
Telecommuting ,
Valuation
In light of the threats posed by natural disasters, pandemics and civil disorder, among other events, businesses of all types must formulate responses to address significant business disruptions (“SBDs”) and the safety of...more
3/5/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Business Disruption ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Health and Safety ,
MSRB ,
Natural Disasters ,
Remote Working ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Third-Party Service Provider ,
Vendor Contacts
On June 5, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted Regulation Best Interest (“Regulation BI”) to improve investor protection by establishing a standard of conduct for broker-dealers making...more
On July 26, 2019, FINRA announced proposed changes to FINRA Rule 5130 (Restrictions on the Purchase and Sale of Initial Equity Public Offerings) and FINRA Rule 5131 (New Issue Allocations and Distributions) to exempt...more
12/23/2019
/ Amended Regulation ,
Anti-Dilution Terms ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Employee Benefits ,
Exemptions ,
Family Offices ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Foreign Jurisdictions ,
Foreign Sovereigns ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Companies ,
Lock-Up Agreement ,
New Rules ,
Regulation S ,
Retirement Plan ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
On June 5, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted Regulation Best Interest (“Regulation BI”). The goal of Regulation BI is to improve investor protection by: (1) enhancing the obligations that apply...more
On November 4, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to rules governing investment adviser advertisements and payment to solicitors under the Investment Advisers Act. The comment period...more
11/18/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Form ADV ,
General Solicitation ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
New Guidance ,
No-Action Letters ,
OCIE ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Rules ,
Reasonable Care ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Two facts may come as a surprise about the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s existing investment adviser advertising rule: that it literally fits on one page, and that it has not been updated since 1961. These facts...more
11/18/2019
/ Advertising ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Form ADV ,
General Solicitation ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
New Guidance ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Rules ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On June 5, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or “Commission”) culminated its multi-year consideration of commentary, reports, rulemaking, interpretations and guidance, adopting a package of...more
On April 25, 2019, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) filed proposed amendments to FINRA Rule 5110 (“FINRA Rule 5110” or “the Rule”), commonly referred to as the “Corporate Financing Rule”, with the...more
6/7/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Corporate Financing ,
Derivatives ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Offerings ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Underwriting ,
Venture Capital
In this week's newsletter, we provide a snapshot of the principal U.S., European and global financial regulatory developments of interest to banks, investment firms, broker-dealers, market infrastructure providers, asset...more
On April 18, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) took the long-awaited step of proposing rules, interpretations and guidance (the “Proposed Rules”) that would seek to enhance and clarify the standards of...more
4/25/2018
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Comment Period ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
EU ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
MiFID II ,
Packaged Retail And Insurance-Based Investment Products (PRIIPS) ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
UK
On May 9, 2017, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) issued an interpretive letter (the “Letter”) regarding its IPO allocation rule 5131(b) and its exception 5131.02(b) (the “IPO Allocation Rule”, or...more
On April 25, 2017, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) issued Regulatory Notice 17–18, Social Media and Digital Communications (the “Regulatory Notice”), addressing certain frequently asked questions...more