On April 1, 2025, the First Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a nearly $95 million judgment against our client Commonwealth Financial Network related to the sufficiency of Commonwealth’s revenue-sharing disclosures. The First...more
The FCA consultation paper CP24/7 “Payment Optionality for Investment Research” considers the reintroduction of the bundling of research payments with broker’s execution fees....more
5/9/2024
/ Broker-Dealer ,
EU ,
Fees ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Research and Development ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK
In a Legal Alert issued before the SEC open meeting, we posed five questions that our Investment Services team would be looking out for as part of this meeting. We now have answers to some of these questions....more
7/31/2023
/ Analytics ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation BI ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Standard of Care ,
Technology
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is holding an open meeting this Wednesday to consider whether to propose new and amended rules under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940...more
Now that the dust has settled on the SEC’s enforcement action against fifteen (15) broker-dealers and an investment adviser for violations of SEC recordkeeping rules applicable to the use of personal devices and off-channel...more
As anticipated, 2020 has seen a number of fiduciary and best interest advice regulations advance at both the federal and state levels. Firms subject to these regulations face challenges in dealing with rules that impose a...more
4/17/2020
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State Securities Regulators
Getting in the know. In this Bottom Line videocast, Michael Koffler and Bria Adams discuss Advisers Act regulatory developments, including:
Modernization of the Advisers Act Custody Rule.
SEC guidance on proxy voting...more
Coming on the heels of the share class initiative, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is at the initial stages of another initiative involving concerns about adviser disclosures and conflicts related to bank...more
11/22/2019
/ Asset Management ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
FDIC ,
Government Securities ,
Liquidity ,
Management Fees ,
Money Market Funds ,
Net Capital Rule ,
OCC ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
Recent SEC rulemaking and guidance heightened retail broker-dealer and investment adviser investment recommendation and advice standards and created certain compliance obligations with respect to account monitoring. Firms...more
As anticipated, this year has seen a number of fiduciary and best interest investment advice regulations advance at both the federal and state levels. Firms subject to these regulations will face challenges in dealing with...more
On June 5, 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a comprehensive package of rulemakings and interpretations governing the standard of conduct applicable to broker-dealers and the fiduciary duty applicable to...more
7/17/2019
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Duty of Care ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Form ADV ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Conduct
Admittedly, it is not one of those “Do you remember where you were when it happened?” moments (for those old enough to remember, think November 16, 1981, when Luke and Laura married), but for the broker-dealer and investment...more
By all accounts, 2019 will see a number of fiduciary and best interest investment advice regulations advance at both the federal and state levels. Firms subject to these regulations will face challenges in dealing with rules...more
5/21/2019
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
By all accounts, 2019 will see the advancement of a number of fiduciary and best interest investment advice regulations at both the federal and state levels. Firms subject to these regulations will face challenges in dealing...more
4/2/2019
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On January 28, 2019, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) launched its 529 Plan Share Class Initiative (the Initiative) to encourage member firms to self-report potential violations of rules governing 529...more
For many years, the private fund industry and the securities bar have called for a limited rule set to govern broker-dealers solely engaged in raising capital for private funds or other issuers of unregistered securities or...more
On February 3, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a Risk Alert prepared by its Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) that summarizes the results of a sweep of more than 100 broker-dealers...more
On January 23, 2015, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) released a new white paper outlining the unique and varied challenges broker-dealers face when complying with state unclaimed property...more
Confirming that auditor independence continues to be a regulatory priority, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued orders on December 8,...more
To ensure that broker-dealers (BDs) do not inadvertently facilitate an unlawful distribution of securities, the Securities and Exchange Commission has long required BDs to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” into the circumstances...more
Under current Florida insurance laws, branch offices of broker-dealers selling insurance products in Florida are required to either “license” or “register” as agency branches (in addition to satisfying insurance producer...more
On July 30, 2014, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued proposed rules (the “Proposed Rules”) to clarify and strengthen customer due diligence requirements for banks, securities...more
On January 31, 2014, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Trading and Markets issued a No-Action Letter (Letter)1 that allows a private business broker (M&A Broker) to receive transaction-based...more
On January 9, 2014, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published its 2014 examination priorities (SEC Letter), just one week after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) published its 2014...more