After collecting near-record amounts in fines, restitution, and disgorgement in 2021 – which included a $70 million monetary penalty against a financial institution in a single action – FINRA continues to raise the bar on...more
After a period of astounding growth in the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) market, FINRA recently joined the SEC in announcing further scrutiny of broker-dealers and their affiliates involved in SPAC offerings,...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have each published their annual examination priorities for 2021, signaling areas of scrutiny that broker-dealers should...more
4/9/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Phishing Scams ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
On December 16, 2020, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 20-42 announcing a retrospective rule review to seek comments on “Lessons From the COVID-19 Pandemic.” In the notice, FINRA requests interested parties to provide...more
Recent Enforcement Actions and Guidance from DOJ, FinCEN, and OFAC Demonstrate the Increased Commitment — and Cooperation — of Federal Regulators to Police Digital Currencies, Including Their Use in Ransomware Attacks -
Amid...more
11/16/2020
/ Bitcoin ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
FinCEN ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Thwarting the financial exploitation of seniors and other vulnerable investors has been an increasing focus of several financial regulators in recent years, including the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). In...more
On Monday, March 9, 2020, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 20-08, titled Pandemic-Related Business Continuity Planning, Guidance and Regulatory Relief, to provide guidance and regulatory relief to its members confronting...more
In the past, sanctioned jurisdictions like Venezuela have embraced virtual currency as a way to bypass channels that involve U.S. dollars, blunting the impact of U.S. economic sanctions policies aimed at isolating those...more
3/12/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Iran ,
Law Enforcement ,
National Security ,
North Korea ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Virtual Currency
On January 7, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued its 2020 Examination Priorities, a yearly publication highlighting new and existing areas of focus for the Office of Compliance Inspections and...more
1/16/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Cybersecurity ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinTech ,
Form CRS ,
Investment Adviser ,
OCIE ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retail Investors ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Care
It’s been nearly five months since the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) approved Regulation Best Interest: The Broker-Dealer Standard of Conduct (“Reg BI”). As discussed in our June 27, 2019 Client Alert, Reg BI...more
11/1/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Form CRS ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Transactions ,
Standard of Conduct
The SEC signaled last week that it appears to be growing more comfortable approving certain digital asset activities, qualifying the first two initial coin offerings ever to proceed as registered securities....more
FINRA yesterday issued long-anticipated guidance concerning credit for extraordinary cooperation in the context of enforcement investigations. Like its government counterparts, FINRA hopes to incentivize member firms that go...more
On June 5, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) voted to adopt Regulation Best Interest: The Broker-Dealer Standard of Conduct (hereinafter, “Regulation BI”), requiring broker-dealers and their associated...more
On April 29, 2019, FINRA published an Information Notice alerting to a potential increase in member firms falling victim to imposter websites – websites designed to appear legitimate but that actually serve as a vehicle to...more
5/15/2019
/ Authentication ,
Cybersecurity ,
Fake Websites ,
Financial Fraud ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Information Reports ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Popular ,
Risk Alert ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Websites
Recently, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) and the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) separately issued important guidance regarding customer communications surrounding the...more
5/3/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Confidential Communications ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
New Guidance ,
OCIE ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Privacy Policy ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Regulation S-P ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Security and Privacy Controls
On January 22, 2019, FINRA released its 2019 Annual Risk Monitoring and Examination Priorities Letter (the “Priorities Letter”). Late last year, as part of FINRA360 – the organization’s ongoing improvement initiative – FINRA...more
2/22/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
BSA/AML ,
Examination Priorities ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinCEN ,
Fixed Income Investments ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Online Distribution ,
Online Platforms ,
Popular ,
Regulation D ,
Risk Management ,
Rule 506(c) ,
Token Sales
Stepping outside of SWIFT -
Since its inception more than a decade ago, cryptocurrency has been viewed as a way to supplant traditional global methods of exchanging money. Today, as virtual currencies proliferate,...more
2/19/2019
/ Corruption ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Iran ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
SDN List ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Regulatory Organizations ,
SWIFT ,
Virtual Currency
On January 28, 2019, FINRA announced a novel leniency initiative that will offer no-fine enforcement resolutions for member firms that self-report supervisory deficiencies related to recommendations of 529 savings plans and...more
On December 20, 2018, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a “Report on Selected Cybersecurity Practices” (the “Report”) as part of its ongoing efforts to assist broker-dealer firms in developing...more