FINRA has offered a gift to member firms and fund managers just in time for the holiday season — but like a new puppy, the gift comes with a lot of responsibility. FINRA filed a proposed rule change to amend FINRA Rule 2210...more
The proposal would codify for the first time the federal-level best execution standard for brokers and related obligations. New Regulation Best Execution would result in a pivot from what has been a principles-based approach...more
The SEC Division of Examinations recently published a Risk Alert on quarterly reports required under Exchange Act Rule 606, which are published by broker-dealers to provide customers with insight into factors influencing...more
12/13/2022
/ Best Execution ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Information Reports ,
Public Comment ,
Public Meetings ,
Quarterly Report ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
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
SEC staff recently served up a juicy staff bulletin covering the standards of conduct for broker-dealer and investment adviser conflicts of interest. The staff bulletin includes 13 Q&As categorized into five different...more
BrokerCheck is the database through which FINRA publishes licensing, registration, and disciplinary history of brokerage industry firms and their personnel. BrokerCheck does not currently specify whether a particular firm is...more
On May 9, 2022, the SEC extended the comment periods for proposed rulemaking on climate-related disclosures and reopened the comment period for proposed rulemaking relating to private funds and what it means to be an...more
As a significant step in its ongoing initiatives on the disclosure, management and oversight of cybersecurity risks and incidents, on March 9, 2022 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new rules that...more
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
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 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
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)
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
On October 7, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) voted 3-2 to propose a conditional exemption (“Exemption”) to permit natural persons to engage in limited securities activities as “finders” on behalf of...more
10/12/2020
/ Accredited Investors ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Capital Raising ,
Comment Period ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Exemptions ,
Finders ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
Private Offerings ,
Public Comment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Unregistered Brokers
The compliance date of June 30, 2020, is looming for U.S. broker-dealers subject to Regulation Best Interest (Reg. BI) and broker-dealers and investment advisers required to prepare and provide relationship summaries pursuant...more
5/19/2020
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Form CRS ,
Investment Adviser ,
Popular ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retail Investors ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Conduct