Understanding Scope of Practice
Evolving State Supervision: Issues Arising from State Qualification Standards and 'SAFE' Act Licensing, and Coordination with the CFPB
FINRA’s guidance sheds further light on the new rule, which will permit firms to elect “non-branch” designation for a private residence where an associated person conducts specified supervisory activities....more
On January 23, 2024, FINRA announced the addition of new Supplementary Material .18 to FINRA Rule 3110 (Supervision) to adopt a voluntary, three-year remote inspections pilot program (Pilot Program) to allow eligible members...more
Firms will be able to treat private residences from which certain supervisory activity is conducted as non-branch offices instead of OSJs. The adoption comes after nearly two years of FINRA efforts to align its supervisory...more
Regulatory Developments - FDIC Publishes Consumer Compliance Supervisory Highlights - On April 5, the FDIC published its latest edition of Consumer Compliance Supervisory Highlights (the Highlights). This edition of...more
Firms would be able to treat private residences as non-branch offices instead of OSJs under certain circumstances. FINRA hopes to align its supervisory rules with current work-from-home practices....more
On Nov. 3, 2022, the SEC announced a consent order against a registered investment adviser (RIA) and its chief executive officer (CEO) for failing to reasonably supervise one of the RIA’s investment adviser representatives...more
FDIC Takes Action Against False or Misleading Crypto-Related Representations - On August 19, the FDIC issued letters (the Letters) to five companies demanding that they cease and desist from making false and misleading...more
We have made it a point previously in this blog to track developments of the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), even speculating more aggressive enforcement actions could be coming due to certain Reg BI deficiency...more
FINRA recently proposed amendments to FINRA Rule 3110 (Supervision) to adopt a voluntary, three-year pilot program (Pilot Program) to allow member firms to conduct remote branch office inspections. In a nod to where...more
On March 17, 2022, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 22-10 (“Notice”), which reminds FINRA member firms and their associated persons of the scope of supervisory liability for Chief Compliance Officers (“CCO”). The Notice...more
The SEC Division of Examinations recently released its 2022 Division of Examinations “Priorities.” The 2022 Priorities provide critical insight into what the Division of Examinations (the “Division”) considers the most...more
Guidance clarifies assessment of liability under Rule 3110, including designation as supervisor, application of reasonableness standard, and factors for and against charging compliance officials. On March 17, 2022, the...more
The lack of specific guidance regarding failure to supervise liability for chief compliance officers (“CCOs”) has been a controversial and opaque topic that both FINRA and the SEC have struggled with for well over a decade....more
There have been tons of cases where firms got in trouble – in AML trouble, which is one the worst kinds of trouble – for failing to be sufficiently on top of third-party wires, i.e., where a customer wires money not to...more
Most securities regulations, by design, create a gray world where compliance is not crystal-clear, but, rather, subject to interpretation. After all, what you think constitutes “reasonable” supervision and what FINRA or the...more
Responding to a “concern” from Chief Compliance Officers (CCOs) to the purported increase in enforcement actions holding compliance personnel personally liable, the New York City Bar Association recently released a framework...more
Alex Oh, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler’s pick for the agency’s Director of the Division of Enforcement, unexpectedly resigned on Wednesday amid growing criticism for her decades-long work as...more
I have always operated with the understanding that, per FINRA rules, one cannot supervise him- or herself. Hardly an outrageous proposition. Today, however, that fundamental, bedrock understanding was so shaken, it has left...more
We were recently reminded of how difficult it is to re-register for a position in the securities industry after being barred. See https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2021/ia-5682.pdf. On February 9, 2021, the United...more
A long time ago, long before there existed any whistleblower statutes, I had a client – a CCO of a broker-dealer – who discovered some pretty funky trading at his firm. As he tells the story, when he went to see his boss (who...more
As the cannabis industry continues to evolve and generate capital raising and investment opportunities, the SEC Division of Enforcement will continue to closely keep watch and target the bad actors that new market...more
On January 18, 2021, the incoming President’s Transition Team announced additional key administration post nominees, including Mr. Gary Gensler as SEC Chair. The announcement specifically provided the following regarding Mr....more
On January 8, 2021, the SEC issued a cease-and-desist order, Release No., 90875 (available here), formally resolving proceedings against Deutsche Bank AG. Deutsche Bank agreed to pay over $125 million as part of a global...more
LPL may be the biggest BD in the country, with 21,500 reps operating out of almost 13,000 branch offices. Heaven knows how much money it brings in every year, but, goodness, it must be a lot. And good thing, too, given how...more
“The SEC score(s) one for the digital age.” These are the words of SEC Commissioner Heist, though, not my own. After a nearly year-long comment period, the SEC announced last week that it was replacing its former advertising...more