On September 27, 2012, the Staff of the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations published a summary of examinations conducted by the SEC, the NYSE and FINRA of information barriers and practices of nineteen broker-dealers, including six of the largest broker-dealers. FINRA’s examinations included a review of the practices of smaller broker-dealers that focus on PIPE transactions. The review focused on the information walls and other systems in place to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements related to the handling of material nonpublic information, or MNPI. Mishandling of MNPI may result not only in exposure to regulatory charges, but also to civil liability and reputational damage. While the report does not constitute an order or finding by the SEC, it provides valuable insight into the Staff’s views, which will likely be reflected in future examination reports (and possibly enforcement actions) by the SEC, FINRA and the NYSE.

The report cites a number of specific concerns, including: informal and undocumented interaction between groups having MNPI and internal and external groups that have sales and trading responsibilities; senior executives designated as “above-the-wall” receiving MNPI without being subject to any monitoring or restrictions despite their managerial responsibilities for business units involved in sales and trading; the lack of a review process to evaluate trading that occurred after MNPI was provided to sales, trading or research personnel for business purposes; and gaps in oversight coverage.