On May 15, 2024, the SEC announced it would make amendments to Regulation S-P (Reg S-P). This will be the first amendment to the regulation since its adoption 24 years ago in 2000. The regulation focuses on how institutions...more
We are probably still years away from Wall Street being overrun by actual robots. Nonetheless, artificial intelligence (AI) tools are divisively integrating into all aspects of society—from the classroom to the courtroom....more
8/9/2023
/ Analytics ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Comment Period ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Investment ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Risk Management ,
Robo-Advisors ,
Robotics ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Traders ,
Technology Sector
The SEC’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs recently released the Spring 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (the Agenda). The word salad of a title hints at the fact the SEC is considering a...more
6/27/2023
/ Analytics ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Cybersecurity ,
Investment Companies ,
Machine Learning ,
Outsourcing ,
Private Funds ,
Registration Requirement ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Technology
Hermione Granger (yes, from Harry Potter) is famously attributed with the following quote: “I’m going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed. Or worse, expelled.” Unfortunately,...more
The Broker-Dealer Regulation & Litigation Digest is a periodic compilation of the most read blog posts published on the Broker-Dealer Law Blog during the last few months. Here you can catch up on what you missed or re-read...more
The 2023 Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s (SIFMA) Compliance & Legal Annual Seminar, as usual, was well attended by compliance and legal professionals, including FINRA executives and SEC directors. The...more
Since Regulation Best Interest’s (Reg BI) June 30, 2020 compliance date, the Division of Examinations of the Securities and Exchange Commissions (the Division) has been busy implementing examinations of broker-dealers to...more
3/10/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Regulation BI ,
Rollover Equity ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Care
Yes, (somehow) it is that time of year again. FINRA recently released its 2023 Report on its Examination and Risk Monitoring Program (the “Report”). As is typical (and this blog has well-covered), it contains a mix of old and...more
2/2/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Consolidated Audit Trail ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Enforcement ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Investors ,
Mobile Apps ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Regulation BI ,
Risk Management ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Care
On September 27, 2022, the SEC announced that it had sanctioned 15 Broker-Dealers and one affiliated RIA for widespread recordkeeping violations of Section 17(a)(1) of the Exchange Act and Rule 17a-4(b)(4) thereunder...more
10/4/2022
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Cease and Desist ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Penalties ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
We have made it a point previously in this blog to track developments of the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), even speculating more aggressive enforcement actions could be coming due to certain Reg BI deficiency...more
In recent years there has been a spate of legislation and rules passed to protect senior investors. Similarly, observers of FINRA’s and the SEC’s annual priorities will, of course, have noticed both bodies’ inclusion of elder...more
5/9/2022
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Elder Abuse ,
Elder Issues ,
Exploitation ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Senior Safe Act
On March 30, 2022, the SEC issued “Staff Bulletin: Standards of Conduct for Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers Account Recommendations for Retail Investors” (SEC Retail Standards Bulletin). This guidance builds on prior...more
4/13/2022
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fiduciary-Standards ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
IRA Rollovers ,
PTEs ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Conduct
A common phrase to abide by in the New Year is “out with the old, in with the new.” FINRA’s 2022 Report on its Examination and Risk Monitoring Program (the “Report”), however, contains a combination of old and new priorities....more
F. Scott Fitzgerald said “There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired.” FINRA may be all of these in 2022, as FINRA CEO Robert Cook announced FINRA’s laundry list of priorities during a SIFMA Q&A last...more
Benjamin Franklin once said “don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” While that is always prudent advice, the Department of Labor (DOL) believes it’s best to grant an extension to investment advisors and...more
12/1/2021
/ 401k ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
PTEs ,
Retirement Plan ,
Standard of Conduct
Robinhood, “an introducing broker-dealer that provides commission-free trading to retail customers through its website and mobile applications,” recently agreed to pay a record-setting amount of $70 million — consisting of a...more
Massachusetts’ Secretary of the Commonwealth, William Galvin, is taking on Robinhood for violating Massachusetts’ new fiduciary duty rule for broker-dealers. In December 2020, Galvin filed a 24-page regulatory complaint,...more
Ben Franklin once said “by failing to prepare, you prepare to fail.” Based on the SEC’s latest risk alert concerning broker-dealers’ anti-money laundering (AML) compliance (or lack thereof), some firms would be well served to...more
On January 8, 2021, without admitting or denying the findings, VALIC Financial Advisors, Inc., (VALIC) entered into a settlement with FINRA Enforcement, through an Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) where the factual...more
Closing out 2020, the SEC’s Division of Examinations (OCIE) issued a Statement on Recent and Upcoming Regulation Best Interest Examinations. There the Division of Examinations announced its intention “to begin its next phase...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hosted a virtual roundtable in late October to discuss the Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) and Form CRS. With a few months of observations from examinations since the June...more
On October 8, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a joint statement by SEC Chairman Jay Clayton and the SEC’s directors of the Division of Investment Management and the Division of Trading and...more
All things come to those who wait … even Regulation Best Interest (colloquially known as Reg BI). In what now feels like a lifetime since the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted it (believe it or not, it was only...more
On June 26, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued its ruling on the challenge to the legality of the Regulation Best Interest final rule (Reg BI), promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange...more
A three-judge panel of the Second Circuit entertained arguments on June 2, 2020, in a lawsuit seeking to vacate and set aside the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI). By way of...more