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Mid-Year Report: FINRA Enforcement Builds Momentum After Historic Penalties

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

SPAC Sweeps: FINRA Releases Guidance After Announcing Its Latest Series of Targeted Exams

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

SEC and FINRA Emphasize Cybersecurity, AML, and Reg BI as Key Areas of Focus for Broker-Dealer Examinations in 2021

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

FINRA Seeks Feedback on Pandemic-Related Impacts and Lessons

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

Patchwork of Cryptocurrency Regulators Increasingly Stitch Together Cooperative Enforcement Efforts

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

FINRA Proposes Expansion of Safe Harbor in Cases of Suspected Financial Exploitation

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

FINRA Issues Guidance on Business Continuity Plans and Regulatory Relief Related to Coronavirus

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

Virtual Currency as a Threat to National Security?

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

SEC Examination Priorities for 2020 Include Both Emerging and Existing Concerns for Registered Investment Advisers and...

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

Regulation Best Interest: Updates and Developments

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

Why It’s Taking So Long: the SEC and FINRA Issue Guidance on Crypto Broker-Dealer Complexities

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

Above and Beyond: FINRA Clarifies Its Approach to Assessing Extraordinary Cooperation

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

The SEC Approves Regulation Best Interest: The Broker-Dealer Standard of Conduct

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

Imposter Websites Prompt Regulatory Warning to Financial Industry

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

Safe and Sound - FINRA and the SEC Issue Guidance on Handling Customer Information and Communications

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

Novel Concerns in FINRA's 2019 Risk Monitoring and Examination Priorities Letter

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

Virtual Currency in Sanctioned Jurisdictions

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

FINRA Incentivizes Member Firms to Self-Report and Remediate 529 Plan Deficiencies

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

FINRA Offers Member Firms Continued Guidance on Cybersecurity

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

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