On February 9, 2022, FINRA issued the 2022 Report on FINRA's Examination and Risk Monitoring Program to provide firms with "information that may help their compliance programs." The 2022 report addresses 21 topic areas. For...more
Social media influencers are individuals, sometimes celebrities, who help businesses gain customers through social media communications. Influencers may communicate, for example, on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube,...more
Not long after the SEC adopted Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) and the related Form CRS Relationship Summary in June 2019, the SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (now the Division of Examinations) issued...more
Continued FINRA Focus -
If regulatory developments in 2020 are any indication, FINRA’s efforts to protect senior customers from financial exploitation and vulnerability will continue in 2021 and beyond....more
The SEC has approved amendments to FINRA’s corporate financing rule. The purpose of the rule is to allow FINRA to determine that public offering terms and conditions are not unfair, unreasonable, or inconsistent with FINRA...more
The standard of conduct for broker-dealers is quickly becoming a crazy quilt of securities regulation. Apparently unsatisfied with the standard established under SEC Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), some state securities...more
4/21/2020
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Transactions ,
Standard of Conduct
As the June 30, 2020, compliance date approaches, broker-dealers are taking steps to implement Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), which establishes a new standard of conduct when making recommendations to retail customers of...more
2/6/2020
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Consumer Insurance Products ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Form CRS ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Life Insurance ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Regulation BI ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Standard of Conduct
In Robare Group v. SEC, the court clarified the meaning of “willfully” under Section 207 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. A willful omission requires that a person “subjectively intended to omit material information.”...more
7/18/2019
/ Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Form ADV ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Life Insurance ,
Omissions ,
Revenue Sharing ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Willful Misconduct ,
Willful Violations
On June 5, 2019, the SEC adopted a four-part regulatory package that includes: new Regulation Best Interest (Reg. BI), the related “Relationship Summary” disclosure form (Form CRS), and two interpretations of the Advisers...more
7/12/2019
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Consumer Insurance Products ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Duty of Care ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Form CRS ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Life Insurance ,
New Rules ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Regulation BI ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Standard of Conduct
For many years, insurance company issuers of non-variable products that are registered with the SEC on Forms S-1 or S-3 have been required to disclose compensation information about highly-compensated executive officers of...more
The Senior Safe Act (12 U.S.C. § 3423) took effect May 24. The Act “extends immunity from liability to certain individuals employed at financial institutions who, in good faith and with reasonable care, disclose the suspected...more
New York Pushes Mutual Fund Active Share Disclosure -
New York’s Attorney General issued a report on its recent investigation of fees charged by actively managed equity mutual funds and a metric known as “Active Share.”...more
7/23/2018
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Annuities ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Churning ,
Class Action ,
COI Rates ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Data Security ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insurance Investment Products ,
Investment Companies ,
Life Insurance ,
Lucia v SEC ,
MassMutual ,
Mutual Funds ,
NAIC ,
Policy Terms ,
Preemption ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SLUSA ,
Unclaimed Property
FINRA has proposed a major paradigm shift for regulating outside business activities (OBAs) and private securities transactions (PSTs) of broker-dealer personnel. ...more
EXPECTFOCUS® is a quarterly review of developments in the insurance and financial services industry, provided on a complimentary basis to clients and friends of Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, P.A.
...more
5/1/2018
/ Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Best Interest Standard ,
CAFA ,
Class Action ,
COI Rates ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Elder Abuse ,
Failure To Pay ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Life Insurance ,
NAIC ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Statute of Limitations ,
TCPA
In late 2017, FINRA pronounced in Regulatory Notice 17-30 that, "Beginning on October 1, 2018, unregistered persons cannot accept an order from a customer under any circumstances. ...more
EXPECTFOCUS® is a quarterly review of developments in the insurance and financial services industry, provided on a complimentary basis to clients and friends of Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, P.A.
...more
10/20/2017
/ Annuities ,
Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Big Data ,
Blockchain ,
Capital Raising ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Security ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Elder Abuse ,
ETFs ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Insurance Industry ,
Interest Rates ,
Investment ,
Investment Management ,
Life Insurance ,
NAIC ,
OCIE ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
STOLI
Over the summer, much was written about amendments to the Nevada Securities Act provisions governing financial planners, which became effective July 1, after being signed by the Governor on June 2....more
Regulators Demand Third-Party Risk Management -
While third-party risk management has been a required component of an effective enterprise risk management program for many years, the topic is receiving elevated attention...more
4/18/2017
/ Article III ,
Clean Shares ,
Elder Abuse ,
Exploitation ,
Fiduciary Exception ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Life Insurance ,
Mutual Funds ,
NAIC ,
Reinsurance ,
Sales Commissions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Settlement Cycles ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
Third Party Funding ,
Third-Party Risk ,
Unfair Competition Law (UCL) ,
Variable Annuities ,
Vulnerable Victims
Broker-dealers, including principal underwriters of insurance products, may retain required records in electronic format, subject to satisfaction of longstanding conditions. One such condition is that the records must be...more
- Should Your Company Purchase Bitcoin to Pay a Cyber Ransom?
- NAIC Draws Line in CFPB Sandbox
- NAIC’s Big Data Task Force Sets Charges for 2017
- Broker-Dealers Can Hold Customers’ Initial Checks...more
1/9/2017
/ Annuities ,
Big Data ,
Bitcoin ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cross-Selling ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Currency ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinTech ,
Insurance Industry ,
Life Insurance ,
NAIC ,
OCC ,
Prudential Insurance ,
Ransomware ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
STOLI ,
Trump Administration ,
Usury ,
Virtual Currency
For two years FINRA has made sales and marketing of L-Share variable annuities (VAs) a regulatory and examination priority. Not surprisingly, FINRA in November announced settled actions against eight broker-dealers, alleging...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
10/31/2016
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Annuities ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
CFTC ,
Class Action ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
EU ,
European Economic Area (EEA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
FSB ,
Gartenberg Factors ,
Healthcare ,
Industry Examinations ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Companies ,
Life Insurance ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Long-Term Care ,
Meals-Gifts-and Entertainment Rules ,
Mutual Funds ,
NAIC ,
NYDFS ,
Passporting ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Retirement Plan ,
RICO ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Solvency II ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Unicorns
On August 5, FINRA proposed amendments to its gifts rule (Rule 3220) along with new rules to replace the current provisions governing noncash compensation (new Rule 3221) and business entertainment (new Rule 3222). These...more
IN THE SPOTLIGHT -
- SEC Sanctions Unregistered EB-5 Investments Broker
SECURITIES -
- FINRA to Assess Member Firms’ Culture
- SEC Seeks Fund Responses to Distribution-In-Guise Guidance...more
7/26/2016
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Arbitration ,
Banking Sector ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Breach ,
Debt Buyers ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EB-5 ,
Electronic Data Transmissions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
FFIEC ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Investment ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
Immigrant Investor Program ,
Individual Accountability ,
Inpatient Billing ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment ,
Job Creation ,
Payday Loans ,
Pensions ,
Popular ,
Property Damage ,
Property Insurance ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Reporting ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Student Loans ,
Two-Midnight Rule ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
The SEC and FINRA continue to play musical chairs with staff resources allocated to examinations of investment advisers and broker-dealers.
According to SEC Chair Mary Jo White’s remarks at an April 16 SEC Compliance...more