On March 9, 2022, President Biden issued the Executive Order Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets setting forth six principal policy objectives in furtherance of U.S. initiatives in the crypto and digital asset...more
On March 15, 2022, SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee announced she will not seek a second term once her current term expires in June of this year. The departure of Commissioner Lee, a Democrat-appointee, follows the January...more
FINRA recently reminded firms of their obligation to execute marketable customer orders fully and promptly. While this seems fairly routine, what’s notable about the reminder is that “prompt” doesn’t necessarily mean what it...more
In This Issue. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a new rule to increase market transparency regarding short selling and extended the comment period for its proposed rule requiring reporting on...more
3/4/2022
/ Annual Percentage Rate (APR) ,
Banking Sector ,
Bias ,
Borrowers ,
Comment Period ,
Community Reinvestment Act ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Federal Reserve ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Form CRS ,
Interest Rates ,
Lenders ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Loan Servicer ,
OCC ,
Property Valuation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF program) ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Regulation SHO ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Short Sales ,
Short Selling ,
Student Loans
This is the first in a series of alerts discussing topics covered by FINRA in its 2022 Examination and Risk Monitoring Program Report (the “Report”). Here we take a look at Regulation Best Interest (“Reg. BI”) and Form CRS,...more
2/25/2022
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Form CRS ,
Investment Adviser ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Training
On February 15, 2022, the SEC announced settlements with 12 broker-dealers and investment advisers for failing to satisfy their Form CRS obligations. These settlements come on the heels of 27 settlements last year for similar...more
FINRA Rules 2165 (Financial Exploitation of Specified Adults) and parts of 4512 (Customer Account Information) became effective on February 5, 2018 and implemented a framework to permit broker-dealers to place a temporary...more
This is the first in a series of alerts in which we will explore the practical reality of the opportunities the metaverse will present for the financial services industry and challenges firms will need to overcome as they...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is implementing a campaign to overhaul the agency’s expectations around cybersecurity and cyber incident reporting for the financial services industry and corporate America...more
2/15/2022
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Collection ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-P ,
Regulation SCI ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Third-Party Service Provider
On February 9, 2022, FINRA published its 2022 Report on its Examination and Risk Monitoring Program, identifying key areas of focus for broker-dealer exams this year. While each exam is unique to the firm under FINRA’s...more
On January 26, 2022, the SEC proposed rule changes that would greatly expand the scope of Regulation ATS, the regulatory regime that governs alternative trading systems (“ATSs”). The proposal focuses on four main...more
On January 26, 2022, the SEC proposed rule changes that would greatly expand the scope of Regulation ATS, the regulatory regime that governs alternative trading systems (“ATSs”). Applicability to the fixed income markets was...more
On January 26, 2022, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler issued a brief statement noting the agency’s efforts to address the market volatility in January 2021 and beyond. The statement referenced the SEC staff report on volatility and...more
On November 18, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed new Rule 10c-1, which, if adopted, would create a new reporting and disclosure framework for the securities lending market. Rule 10c-1 would require...more
On November 18, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) proposed amendments to Rules 17a-4 and 18a-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 related to recordkeeping requirements for broker-dealers and...more
On December 17, 2021, the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a statement regarding Form CRS disclosures required of SEC-registered broker-dealers and investment advisers who offer services to retail...more
Persons registered with a broker-dealer historically have had two years from their Form U5 filing date to re-register with another firm before their prior qualifications (examinations) would lapse. This two-year window often...more
SEC Commission Elad Roisman recently spoke about cybersecurity threats and challenges facing the agency’s registrants, including public companies and financial institutions. One source of challenges (our words, not Roisman’s)...more
The SEC has made a concerted effort in recent years to look more closely at the fixed income markets. But under the new leadership of Chairman Gary Gensler, that spotlight seemed to have dimmed—or so some thought....more
The SEC has been increasingly focused on digital engagement practices (DEPs) and gamification in the marketplace. In August, for example, the SEC solicited public comment on broker-dealer and investment adviser DEPs and...more
The staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Division of Examinations (the “Division”) recently published a risk alert spotlighting observations from its “RIC Initiatives” — 200+ examinations of mutual...more
11/2/2021
/ Books & Records ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
ETFs ,
Internal Controls ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Portfolios ,
Investors ,
Mutual Funds ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Portfolio Managers ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Registered Investment Companies (RICs) ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The onset of fall signals a sad realization that summer has ended, but also the joy that “market structure” season has arrived for securities industry participants and policy wonks. Right on cue, in early October, SEC staff...more
The SEC recently solicited public comment on digital engagement practices (DEPs) used by some broker-dealers and investment advisers, including predictive data analytics, differential marketing, and behavioral prompts (such...more
FINRA recently amended its rules in order to strengthen its tools to respond to brokers with a significant history of misconduct and the firms that employ them. The amended rules include FINRA’s Disciplinary Proceedings...more