On June 23, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) entered an administrative order1 (the “Order”) that, among other things, fined a broker-dealer (“BD”) $208,912 for alleged violations of Rule...more
UPDATE: As of December 30, 2020, Arizona, Arkansas, Michigan, and Rhode Island have joined Iowa in adopting the NAIC model rule for best interest standard in annuity sales. Alabama, Delaware, Kentucky, Maine, Nevada and Ohio...more
On October 7, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) released a Notice of Proposed Exemptive Order (“Notice”) that would create a conditional exemption from the broker registration requirements for...more
On August 12, 2020, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations issued a risk alert related to COVID-19 compliance risks (“Risk Alert”). The Risk Alert applies to both investment advisers and broker-dealers and...more
On April 7, 2020, the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations ("OCIE") issued two risk alerts regarding the expected scope and content of initial examinations for compliance with Form CRS and Regulation Best...more
UPDATED: MAY 12, 2020: Yesterday, Iowa adopted its proposed regulation requiring annuity agents to act in the best interest of consumers, but delayed adoption (or revision, withdrawal) of the companion securities rules. The...more
On February 21, 2020, the Massachusetts Securities Division (the “Securities Division”) announced the finalization of its Fiduciary Rule.
This Part I summarizes the evolution of the Massachusetts Fiduciary Rule and the...more
On Monday, April 15, the New Jersey Bureau of Securities (“NJBS”) released its long-awaited proposed fiduciary rule (the “Proposed Rule”) for broker-dealers (“BDs”) and investment advisers (“IAs”).1 Key points from the Rule...more
New Jersey released its long-awaited proposed fiduciary rule (the “Fiduciary Rule”) for broker-dealers and investment advisers. The 60-day comment period for the Fiduciary Rule began today, and will end on June 14, 2019....more
Last week FINRA issued guidance (Regulatory Notice 19-10) with respect to communications with customers about registered representatives (“RRs”) who have left a broker-dealer (the “Notice”).
With increased frequency, RRs...more
On September 20th, the SEC released a proposed rule amending Rule 17a-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Exchange Act”). Under Rule 17a-5(d)(1)(i)(C) of the Exchange Act, broker-dealers registered with the...more
On September 20th, the SEC released a proposed rule amending Rule 17a-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Exchange Act”).[1] Under Rule 17a-5(d)(1)(i)(C) of the Exchange Act, broker-dealers registered with...more
Investment advisers, as fiduciaries, have an obligation to seek “best execution” of client transactions when selecting broker-dealers and executing client trades. This duty to seek “best execution” does not simply mean...more
FINRA recently proposed a rule (the “Proposed Rule”) addressing FINRA-registered broker-dealer’s (“Broker-Dealers”) responsibilities to supervise the outside business activities of their registered representatives...more