What happened?
On June 5, in a three-to-one vote, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a comprehensive package of rulemakings and interpretations governing the standard of conduct applicable to...more
7/10/2019
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Form CRS ,
Investment Adviser ,
Notice Requirements ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Retail Investors ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
By all accounts, 2019 will see a number of fiduciary and best interest investment advice regulations advance at both the federal and state levels. Firms subject to these regulations will face challenges in dealing with rules...more
5/21/2019
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
By all accounts, 2019 will see the advancement of a number of fiduciary and best interest investment advice regulations at both the federal and state levels. Firms subject to these regulations will face challenges in dealing...more
4/2/2019
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Under Nevada law, financial planners owe a fiduciary duty to their clients. In accordance with this duty, a financial planner must disclose, at the time advice is given, any gain the financial planner may receive if the...more
This legal alert is the first in a series addressing the ever-changing regulatory landscape relating to senior investors, state law, and a broker-dealer’s legal obligation, if any, to protect its vulnerable customers. We...more
Delaware and its third-party auditors intend to continue using the same controversial estimation techniques in unclaimed property audits, as described in newly proposed regulations, even after a federal court found a...more
Facing widespread criticism about the enforcement of its unclaimed property laws, Delaware has just completed a wholesale revision of its unclaimed property statute. The statutory overhaul has passed both houses of the...more
Introduction -
In addition to the recent increase in regulatory focus on senior investors, earlier this fall, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) filed a rulemaking proposal (the filing) with the...more
Highlights from FINRA/SIFMA Senior Investor Conference -
On October 22-23, members of the securities industry, academia, regulators, and public policy experts gathered in Washington, D.C., at the joint Financial...more
The 2016 Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (2016 Act) was adopted unanimously by the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) in a 49-0 vote at its 2016 summer meeting. The adoption of the revised model law is a significant step forward for...more
8/12/2016
/ Audits ,
B2B Transactions ,
Contingency Fees ,
De Minimus Quantity Exemption ,
Death Benefits ,
Escheat ,
Life Insurance ,
Securities ,
State Treasurers ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Unclaimed Gift Cards ,
Unclaimed Property ,
Uniform Law Commission (ULC)
Proposed revisions to the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act were under debate this past week in Washington, DC as the Uniform Law Commission (ULC or Commission) Committee to Revise the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Drafting...more
10/16/2015
/ B2B Transactions ,
Death Master Files ,
Due Diligence ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Escheat ,
Gift-Cards ,
Life Insurance ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Unclaimed Property ,
Uniform Law Commission (ULC) ,
Video Games
Emphasizing the critical importance of cybersecurity to registered investment companies (RICs), including insurance separate accounts and business development companies, and to investment advisers, the SEC’s Division of...more
Background -
The same State Treasurers and contingency-fee unclaimed property auditors that focused on the life insurance industry are now turning their attention to broker-dealers. Sutherland has been actively...more
On February 9, the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) released a Report on Cyber Security in the Insurance Sector (Report), summarizing the results of a survey completed by 43 insurers about their cybersecurity...more
On February 3, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a Risk Alert prepared by its Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) that summarizes the results of a sweep of more than 100 broker-dealers...more
On January 23, 2015, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) released a new white paper outlining the unique and varied challenges broker-dealers face when complying with state unclaimed property...more
Confirming that auditor independence continues to be a regulatory priority, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued orders on December 8,...more
On December 1, 2014, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) Consolidated Supervision Rules will take effect. The Consolidated Supervision Rules, which were approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange...more
To ensure that broker-dealers (BDs) do not inadvertently facilitate an unlawful distribution of securities, the Securities and Exchange Commission has long required BDs to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” into the circumstances...more
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Member Firms have new language to include in their settlement and confidentiality agreements. On October 9, FINRA released Regulatory Notice (RN) 14-40, warning that firms are...more
Late this summer, the Massachusetts Treasurer demanded mutual fund records on a nationwide basis as part of a multistate unclaimed property audit. Thirty-five (35) states are involved in the audit, but the Treasurer has...more
On September 22, 2014, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced the largest-ever whistleblower award, more than double last year’s record-breaking award. According to the Order, the award, which will likely...more
Under current Florida insurance laws, branch offices of broker-dealers selling insurance products in Florida are required to either “license” or “register” as agency branches (in addition to satisfying insurance producer...more
On July 30, 2014, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued proposed rules (the “Proposed Rules”) to clarify and strengthen customer due diligence requirements for banks, securities...more
On August 14, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit became the first U.S. appellate court to weigh in on the extraterritorial application of the whistleblower provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street...more