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
Each month, we publish a roundup of the most important SEC enforcement developments for busy in-house lawyers and compliance professionals. This month, we examine the following matters: • An SEC complaint alleging a Georgia...more
Over the last few years, broker dealers and financial advisors have filed a flurry of legal actions seeking both: (1) to strip the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) of its power to adjudicate customer and...more
On May 14, 2025, Deputy Enforcement Director Antonia Apps told those gathered at an anti‑money laundering conference in Washington, D.C. to expect a more measured approach from SEC Enforcement. That may include, she...more
These days, you'd be hard-pressed to find an business that isn't advertising on social media. But when it comes to financial service providers, social media marketing can become a double-edged sword, or worse a compliance...more
On January 28, 2025, FINRA issued its 2025 Annual Regulatory Oversight Report, providing a detailed look into FINRA’s current regulatory oversight of member firms and their registered personnel....more
FINRA’s Office of Financial Innovation published a report on “The Metaverse and the Implications for the Securities Industry” to raise awareness among its member firms and the broader securities industry and seek industry...more
A broker-dealer failed to reasonably supervise its registered representatives when making recommendations of certain variable rate structured products (“VRSPs”), including fixed to floating rate steepeners and other variable...more
Many governments are grappling with the question of how to regulate artificial intelligence to ensure it is adopted safely and used responsibly without hampering innovation. Governments have generally indicated similar...more
According to recent reports, two U.S. multinational financial technology companies have integrated Ethereum Name Service (ENS), a decentralized naming system built on the Ethereum blockchain, into their payment platforms....more
KEY TAKEAWAYS - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the first spot Bitcoin ETFs, also known as an exchange-traded product (ETP.) With the SEC now permitting spot Bitcoin ETFs, brokers must become...more
FINRA issued its 2024 Annual Regulatory Oversight Report on January 9, 2024, providing a glimpse into FINRA’s current regulatory oversight of member firms and their registered personnel in 27 topic areas....more
The Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) emerged as a lifeline for small businesses grappling with the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lenders navigated a landscape of regulations that Congress quickly...more
Each month, we publish a roundup of the most important SEC enforcement developments for busy in-house lawyers and compliance professionals. This month we examine: • Fraud and internal control failure charges against...more
...SEC Adopts Amendments to Fund Names Rule - On September 20, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to Rule 35d-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Fund Names Rule) as well...more
In September, the Securities Exchange Commission’s new Cybersecurity Rule for reporting public companies became effective. The SEC Cybersecurity Rule applies to public companies and generally requires (1) disclosure of...more
A panel of the D.C. Circuit recently relied on Lucia and Cochran to enjoin a FINRA regulatory enforcement action pending appeal of an Appointments Clause challenge....more
As the private equity (“PE”) and venture capital (“VC”) funds industry grows and matures in Asia, managers are increasingly looking to market interests in their funds to U.S.-based investors. However, many Asia-based managers...more
Firms would be able to treat private residences as non-branch offices instead of OSJs under certain circumstances. FINRA hopes to align its supervisory rules with current work-from-home practices....more
Relying on the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and noting that the FAA “enumerates limited grounds on which a federal court may vacate, modify, or correct an arbitral award,” the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona...more
In February, FINRA provided an update (Update) concerning the targeted exam (Sweep) launched in September 2021 to review firms’ practices concerning customer acquisition through social media channels and the way firms share...more
As might be expected, FINRA appears to be aligning itself with the SEC in its assertion of jurisdiction over investments that may not, at the end of the day, be deemed securities. ...more
Welcome to the latest issue of Bracewell’s FINRA Facts and Trends, a monthly newsletter devoted to condensing and digesting recent FINRA developments in the areas of enforcement, regulation and dispute resolution. This...more
Are the SEC and FINRA setting up shop in the metaverse? Not quite yet, but we stress yet! Like private sector businesses, U.S. financial services regulators are increasingly exploring what the metaverse, augmented...more
July 15, 2022- U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Chair Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), along with 44 senators, today...more
Congress- U.S. Senate- Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs- Hearing: The Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress- June 22, 2022- The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a...more