The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) have, in two separate recent settled enforcement actions involving off-channel communications (“OCC”), imposed fine...more
4/24/2024
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Electronic Communications ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
On May 25, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) provided notice of proposed rulemaking aimed at Investment Advisers (“Advisers”), Investment Companies and Business Development Companies (collectively...more
6/6/2022
/ Business Development Companies ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Form ADV ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Funds ,
NPRM ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Registered Investment Companies (RICs) ,
Regulation BI ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Garcia Case Highlights Necessity of Knowing Your Customer and Listening to Internal Fraud Watchdogs.
The SEC’s recent Order against a broker-dealer (the “Firm”) imposed a $750,000 financial penalty for the Firm’s failure...more
10/21/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Consent Order ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Know Your Customers ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Risk-Based Approaches ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Unregistered Brokers
In case you were wondering if you can still push off finalizing your Form CRS filing, posting it on your website and delivering it to clients, the SEC has read your mind and answered loudly: no more! On Monday, the SEC...more
Given the continued popularity of recommending wrap fee programs to clients, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Division of Examinations (“DOE”) recently released a Risk Alert dated July 21, 2021, wherein it...more
In a troubling recently-released Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”), FINRA fined three Cetera Firms a total of $1,000,000 for failing to conduct the appropriate suitability review and to otherwise satisfy their...more
The SEC's Office of Compliance and Examinations (OCIE) issued a risk alert on July 10th about its observation of an apparent increase in sophistication of ransomware attacks on SEC registrants, including broker-dealers,...more
A recent Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) order imposed sanctions on a financial institution for failing to reasonably supervise a representative’s conduct. In its findings, the SEC highlights the institution’s...more
4/15/2019
/ Best Practices ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Financial Institutions ,
Investigations ,
Investment Adviser ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Professional Misconduct ,
Registered Representatives ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Securities Act ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Violations
On Wednesday, April 6, 2016, the United States Department of Labor (the “DOL”) released the final version of its rule imposing a “best interest” fiduciary standard on financial professionals who provide retirement savings...more
4/13/2016
/ Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Best Interest Standard ,
Broker Commissions ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Adviser ,
Investment Adviser ,
Retirement Plan