The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) recently kicked off a “sweep” examination with its August 2021 Targeted Exam Letter on “practices and controls related to the opening of options accounts and related...more
On February 1, 2021, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) released its “Report on FINRA’s Risk Monitoring and Examination Activities.” The Report combines two of FINRA’s long-standing reports: (a) the...more
In statements made at SIFMA’s Virtual Compliance and Legal Forum, FINRA Chief Executive Officer, Robert Cook, indicated that FINRA may be reconsidering aspects of its cycl examinations in light of the challenges presented by...more
FINRA issued a targeted-exam letter on February 20, 2020 seeking information on the effect of zero-commission trading upon compliance with related obligations of Best Execution, payment for order flow, and non-commission...more
FINRA’s 2020 Risk Monitoring and Examination Priorities Letter identifies a number of areas of focus for the examination program in the coming year....more
The Annual Report provides transparency on FINRA’s recent examination findings and focus for the coming year. On October 16, 2019, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) published its annual Report on...more
On January 22, 2019, FINRA published its 2019 Risk Monitoring and Examination Priorities Letter. Released several weeks later than usual, FINRA’s letter follows the December 10, 2018 publication of the 2019 Examination...more
FINRA published its Report on FINRA Examination Findings and highlights private placement related concerns. In its examinations of the practices of many broker-dealers...more
On January 8 the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) published its Annual Regulatory and Examination Priorities Letter, which highlights key areas of focus for FINRA in the coming year. ...more
FINRA recently published its 2018 Annual Regulatory and Examination Priorities Letter, which identifies opportunities for firms to improve their compliance, supervisory and risk management policies or programs. ...more
On January 4, FINRA released its Annual Regulatory and Examination Priorities Letter, which outlines the areas it plans to review over the coming year. FINRA President and CEO, Robert Cook, says that attention to these core...more
On January 4, new President and CEO Richard Cook issued FINRA’s Annual Regulatory and Examination Priorities Letter. This year’s list in summary is: New for 2017: Targeted electronic off-site reviews “on select...more
In late October, FINRA issued a sweep exam, commanding firms to produce 15 categories of documents about firm’s cross-selling programs over a 5-year span. The sweep seeks information on cross-selling, including incentives...more
- AXA Prevails at First Post-Jones v. Harris Excessive Fee Trial - Potential Secondary Effects of Regulatory Examinations: Evidentiary Issues and Preclusion in Parallel Litigation - On The Horizon: Global...more
Investment Adviser AXA Wins Excessive Fee Trial - A federal judge in New Jersey has ruled in favor of AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company (AXA Equitable) and its wholly owned subsidiary, AXA Equitable Funds Management...more
Below is a summary of recent investment management developments that affect registered investment companies, private equity funds, hedge funds, investment advisers, and others in the investment management industry. ...more
CFTC Says Virtual Currencies Are a “Commodity” Under Federal Law, Files Charges Against Coinflip for Operating an Unregistered Bitcoin Options Trading Platform - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed and...more
On Feb. 3, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) each released reports regarding cybersecurity issues for brokerage and advisory firms, both of which should be...more
On February 3, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued separate publications on cybersecurity risk. The SEC’s risk alert provides summary observations from the SEC’s Office of...more
On February 3, 2015, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) issued its Report on Cybersecurity Practices. Reinforcing FINRA’s emphasis on protecting investor information, the report discusses the results of a...more
The Commission brought cases related to HFT this week, but not against those traders. One action involved the operations of one of the largest dark pools. A second involved two exchanges. Each action involved specific types...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently announced their 2015 exam priorities for their respective examination programs. Both the SEC and FINRA have...more
The SEC and FINRA announced the priorities for their examination programs from 2015 this week. The SEC priorities build in several respects on those from the prior year. They are divided into four areas which, to some extent,...more