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
On October 16, 2023, the SEC’s Division of Examinations (EXAMS) published its exam priorities for 2024. The timing is notable, with the release coming several months ahead of the typical timeline and only eight months after...more
10/26/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cybersecurity ,
FinTech ,
Form CRS ,
Investment Adviser ,
Private Funds ,
Registered Investment Companies (RICs) ,
Regulation BI ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In April 2023, the SEC re-proposed amendments to Exchange Act Rule 3b-16 to expand the definition of what it means to be an exchange. When the SEC initially proposed these amendments in January 2022, there were zero direct...more
10/12/2023
/ Alternative Trading System (ATS) ,
Blockchain ,
Comment Period ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Dates ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Contract ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Securities Regulation
The SEC continues its overhaul of cybersecurity, cyber incident reporting, and privacy controls and requirements for industry registrants, their services providers, and corporate America generally.
On March 15, 2023, the SEC...more
4/14/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Covered Entities ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Disposal Protocols ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Mutual Funds ,
Personal Information ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Proposed Rules ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Regulation S-P ,
Safeguards Rule ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sensitive Personal Information
The risk alert highlights deficiencies the staff identified during examinations and provides examples of weak practices observed at firms. EXAMS staff intends for the alert to assist broker-dealers in reviewing and enhancing...more
On January 10, 2023, FINRA published the 2023 Report on FINRA’s Examination and Risk Monitoring Program. The Report serves as a resource for firms to use to bolster their compliance programs and provides a roadmap of FINRA’s...more
FINRA recently provided an update on the August 2021 review of its members’ practices and controls related to the opening of options accounts and related areas, including account supervision, communications, and diligence. ...more
The SEC recently adopted new recordkeeping requirements for broker-dealers and “SBS entities” (security-based swap dealers and major security based swap participants). Most notably, the SEC will no longer require...more
FINRA recently hosted a conference call with its smaller members covering Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS compliance. FINRA’s resounding message was that there is “no one-size-fits all” approach to Reg. BI...more
10/13/2022
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Form CRS ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Regulation BI ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
This article focuses on how the new Rule 206(4)-1 (the “Marketing Rule”) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”) affects the relationships between investment advisers registered with the U.S. Securities...more
10/4/2022
/ Advertising ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Endorsements ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Marketing ,
New Rules ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Private Funds ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Testimonial Statements
Are the SEC and FINRA setting up shop in the metaverse? Not quite yet, but we stress yet! Like private sector businesses, U.S. financial services regulators are increasingly exploring what the metaverse, augmented...more
8/4/2022
/ Augmented Reality ,
Business Strategies ,
Compliance ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Metaverse ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Remote Banking ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Virtual Reality
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged a broker-dealer and five of its registered representatives with violating Regulation Best Interest (“Reg. BI”) related to recommendations and sales of an unrated,...more
The SEC recently published its 2022 Examination Priorities Letter on the heels of FINRA issuing its 2022 Examination and Risk Monitoring Program Report. One of many areas of common focus is financial management, and more...more
FINRA recently published Regulatory Notice 22-10 reminding firms of the scope of Rule 3110 (Supervision) and the potential liability of Chief Compliance Officers for failure to reasonably discharge supervisory...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)