Compliance Tip of the Day: COSO Objective 5 – Monitoring Activities
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Raising Capital 101: A Securities Podcast - What Laws Affect Securities Offerings?
Payment for Order Flow (PFOF) and Gamification: Your Questions Answered
Summer Enforcement Action Review; Raising Money in a Pandemic - Investment Management Roundtable Discussion
Investment Management and Private Funds Roundtable – June 2020
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – FinTech initiatives
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – Fiduciary investment advice: The patchwork emerges
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – SEC enforcement
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – Complying with new SEC rules for broker-dealers
Investment Management Roundtable Discussion – Regulatory and Enforcement Update
Regulation Best Interest Videocast Series: Establishing An Investment Platform Post-Regulation BI
Investment Management Update - Focus on Data Privacy and Cybersecurity
Let’s say, once upon a time, you worked from home during the pandemic. If so, did you use a variety of communication methods (perhaps switching among different platforms, never sure which camera or microphone would be...more
For securities industry employers, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) disciplinary actions and fines can be costly. FINRA disciplinary actions in the first half of 2024 show three areas of significant regulatory...more
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
In January 2024, FINRA provided an update on its targeted examination of firms’ crypto asset communications. FINRA launched this targeted examination series in November 2022 to “review the practices of certain member firms...more
On January 9, 2024, FINRA published its 2024 Annual Regulatory Oversight Report (the “Report”). FINRA publishes the Report as a way to provide its broker-dealer members with insight into findings from FINRA’s Member...more
On January 9, 2024, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority published its 2024 FINRA Annual Regulatory Oversight Report. Previously titled Report on FINRA’s Examination and Risk Monitoring Program, the Report is released...more
In light of the DOJ’s most recent guidance on the use of personal devices and third-party messaging applications by corporate personnel, this White Paper addresses issues and challenges that companies are facing in this area...more
Several years before announcing the first “off-channel” communications enforcement action, the SEC and FINRA cautioned broker-dealers and investment advisers about problematic record-keeping practices involving the use of...more
SEC Advertising Rules – Client Resource Center - November 4 was the compliance date for the new rule governing advertising and solicitation activities by investment advisers. The new rule substantially revises decades old...more
On September 27, 2022, 15 broker-dealers and one investment adviser agreed to pay more than $1.8 billion in total civil penalties to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and, for those same companies or affiliates...more
The SEC requires broker-dealers to maintain originals of all communications received and copies of all communications sent by the broker-dealer relating to its business for three years. The SEC has explained that Rule 17a-4...more
When it comes to making sure financial data is safe and meets compliance regulations, understanding the different regulatory bodies and how they affect your organization is a vital first step. Two of the most common...more
If you’re a regular reader of Hanzo, we’ve probably already convinced you that you need to be archiving any social media profiles that your organization maintains, along with your website. Chances are you’ve heard us talk...more
WARCs? WORMs? Is this a lost installment of the Lord of the Rings? Unfortunately, no. Rather, WARC and WORM are abbreviations that you should be familiar with if you’re maintaining digital archives for regulatory compliance,...more
When you need information, where do you go? For the majority of people today, the answer involves a smartphone and social media. From Facebook and LinkedIn to Instagram, Twitter, and even YouTube, social media is...more
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's (FINRA) constantly updated record of disciplinary actions contains a mixed bag of run-of-the-mill infractions, unethical behavior, and large-scale corporate misconduct and...more
Context is essential to understand any piece of data or information. “Those are some gorgeous melons!” could be someone's positive feedback about produce at a farmer's market, or sexual harassment directed toward a farmer....more
Remember when nothing terribly important happened on social media? When Facebook was just a silly diversion where twenty-somethings could let their friends know what they were up to? For better or for worse, those days are...more
From Elon Musk’s tweets to Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled’s promotion of cryptocurrencies, 2018 was, to say the least, an interesting year in regulatory enforcement news. Even if all you do is win, win, win, no matter what,...more
As we enter the new year, there are new changes in state and federal lobbying, gift and campaign finance laws. California: In September, Gov. Jerry Brown signed new campaign finance laws that require political committees...more
Introduction - Despite an anticipated de-regulatory push, there are significant new regulatory concerns for investment advisers to address in connection with their annual review of their compliance manuals. ...more
Understanding Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. Rule 2210, Communications with the Public - What is Rule 2210, and what does it require? - Rule 2210 governs three categories of “communications” by FINRA member...more
In January, FINRA published its 2017 Regulatory and Examination Priorities Letter. As in years past, FINRA noted its ongoing focus on social media and electronic communications retention and supervision and firm's hiring and...more
On May 12, 2015, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) issued an interpretive letter (the “Letter”) permitting the use of Related Performance Information (as defined below) in communications distributed solely...more
In this issue: - Amendments to FINRA Rule 2210 Regarding Communications With the Public - Smith & Wesson Pays $2 Million to Resolve SEC Charges - Former Chief Operating Officer Settles SEC Fraud Claims ...more