Understanding Scope of Practice
Evolving State Supervision: Issues Arising from State Qualification Standards and 'SAFE' Act Licensing, and Coordination with the CFPB
FINRA’s guidance sheds further light on the new rule, which will permit firms to elect “non-branch” designation for a private residence where an associated person conducts specified supervisory activities....more
On January 23, 2024, FINRA announced the addition of new Supplementary Material .18 to FINRA Rule 3110 (Supervision) to adopt a voluntary, three-year remote inspections pilot program (Pilot Program) to allow eligible members...more
Firms will be able to treat private residences from which certain supervisory activity is conducted as non-branch offices instead of OSJs. The adoption comes after nearly two years of FINRA efforts to align its supervisory...more
The new rule establishes criteria for firms to elect “non-branch” designation for a private residence where an associated person engages in specified supervisory activities....more
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) announced via Regulatory Notice 24-02 (the “Notice”) the effective dates and other important timeframes for new FINRA Rules 3110.18 (Remote Inspections Pilot...more
Starting May 31, National Futures Association (“NFA”) Members and Associates that engage in digital asset commodity activities must comply with NFA Compliance Rule 2-51 (“Rule 2-51” or the “Rule”) regarding anti-fraud, just...more
Regulatory Developments - FDIC Publishes Consumer Compliance Supervisory Highlights - On April 5, the FDIC published its latest edition of Consumer Compliance Supervisory Highlights (the Highlights). This edition of...more
Firms would be able to treat private residences as non-branch offices instead of OSJs under certain circumstances. FINRA hopes to align its supervisory rules with current work-from-home practices....more
Regulatory Developments - CFPB Issues Guidance on Investigation Practices by Consumer Reporting Agencies - On November 10, the CFPB issued a Consumer Financial Protection Circular (Circular) affirming that consumer...more
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
FINRA recently proposed amendments to FINRA Rule 3110 (Supervision) to adopt a voluntary, three-year pilot program (Pilot Program) to allow member firms to conduct remote branch office inspections. In a nod to where...more
On March 17, 2022, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 22-10 (“Notice”), which reminds FINRA member firms and their associated persons of the scope of supervisory liability for Chief Compliance Officers (“CCO”). The Notice...more
Guidance clarifies assessment of liability under Rule 3110, including designation as supervisor, application of reasonableness standard, and factors for and against charging compliance officials. On March 17, 2022, the...more
The lack of specific guidance regarding failure to supervise liability for chief compliance officers (“CCOs”) has been a controversial and opaque topic that both FINRA and the SEC have struggled with for well over a decade....more
FINRA recently published Regulatory Notice 22-10 reminding firms of the scope of Rule 3110 (Supervision) and the potential liability of Chief Compliance Officers for failure to reasonably discharge supervisory...more
In this Issue. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a reminder about chief compliance officer (CCO) supervisory liability under FINRA Rule 3110 (Rule 3110); and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau...more
Key Takeaways: ..On August 13, 2021, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 21-29 (“RN 21-29”) to remind member firms that they must establish and maintain an adequate supervisory system, including written supervisory procedures...more
Most securities regulations, by design, create a gray world where compliance is not crystal-clear, but, rather, subject to interpretation. After all, what you think constitutes “reasonable” supervision and what FINRA or the...more
For many years, FINRA has attempted in several settings to substitute objective criteria for subjective ones, to try and make things easier for itself, and to make things more consistent from district to district and from...more
Sometimes, the numbers that FINRA cites in its settlements with big broker-dealers are so ridiculously large that it’s nearly impossible to compare these cases with those brought against small firms for similar rule...more
I have always operated with the understanding that, per FINRA rules, one cannot supervise him- or herself. Hardly an outrageous proposition. Today, however, that fundamental, bedrock understanding was so shaken, it has left...more
A long time ago, long before there existed any whistleblower statutes, I had a client – a CCO of a broker-dealer – who discovered some pretty funky trading at his firm. As he tells the story, when he went to see his boss (who...more
LPL may be the biggest BD in the country, with 21,500 reps operating out of almost 13,000 branch offices. Heaven knows how much money it brings in every year, but, goodness, it must be a lot. And good thing, too, given how...more
We have frequently blogged here about the degree of attention that regulators pay to Chief Compliance Officers, and whether it is proper that they sometimes are named individually in Enforcement actions. And we are hardly...more
As should be clear to readers of this Blog, I find that Enforcement actions often provide the best guidance in terms of what regulators deem to be unacceptable conduct, which is very useful when dealing with subjective...more