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
On July 16, TradeStation Securities, Inc., a member firm of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) to FINRA’s Department of Enforcement. This AWC...more
Welcome to the latest edition of Fenwick’s Securities Law Update. This issue contains updates and important reminders on...more
In the world of outside business activity (OBA) disclosure, many FINRA enforcement actions center on whether a registered person gave, or did not give, prior written notice of those activities to their member firm. These...more
FINRA’s continued focus on account recommendations and rollovers is evident in its 2025 FINRA Annual Regulatory Oversight Report (the Report), Based on the Report, broker-dealers and their registered representatives...more
The SEC's Rule 10c-1a now mandates the reporting of securities loans, marking a significant regulatory shift. Potential challenges in implementing SLATE, including the need for possible adjustments to data dissemination...more
As generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) tools rapidly evolve in 2025, FINRA member broker-dealers will be presented with both promising opportunities for investors and challenges in satisfying regulatory obligations....more
The SEC currently has several notable rule proposals that have received public comment but have not yet been finalized. The potential direction of these proposals is likely to be influenced by the leadership of the new SEC...more
The Investment Company Institute (ICI) has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a comment letter to delay enforcement of its new short sale disclosure rules (the “Short Sale Final Rules”) until additional...more
On January 2, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the FINRA Rule 6500 Series (the SLATE Rules), which establishes the Securities Lending and Transparency Engine (SLATE), a new facility for the...more
On January 2, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) published an order approving a proposed rule change filed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) to adopt the new FINRA Rule 6500...more
Last November, Nasdaq proposed a rule change that would lengthen the notification period for companies conducting reverse stock splits from five business days to 10 calendar days. The rule change became effective immediately...more
The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Division of Examinations released its annual report of examination priorities on October 21, 2024 (the Exam Priorities). The annual Exam Priorities report, which is designed...more
FINRA, as part of its targeted exam of member firms’ social media practices for gaining new customers, recently announced an $850,000 fine against M1 Finance LLC (“M1 Finance”) stemming from promotional social media posts...more
In this issue, we cover regulatory developments from the fourth quarter of 2023 impacting the investment management sector, including the use of shareholder rights plans as an alternative to state control share statutes....more
In This Issue. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a new rule to increase market transparency regarding short selling and extended the comment period for its proposed rule requiring reporting on...more
On June 5, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted Regulation Best Interest (“Regulation Best Interest” or “Reg BI”), which establishes a new standard of conduct under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934...more
Litigation Risks Posed by the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest - Pete Tepley and Meredith Lees highlight litigation risks posed by the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest (Reg-BI), litigation risks that may arise from Reg-BI’s...more
Just before the Holidays, I attended FINRA’s one-day Reg BI seminar in Washington D.C., where member firms and regulators (but primarily the SEC) discussed the new rule and what they hoped it meant for the industry. As you...more
Regulation Best Interest: The SEC has issued its final Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), Form CRS Regulation, RIA Interpretation and Solely Incidental Interpretation. I am discussing the SEC’s guidance in a series of...more
In the past week, I ran across two discrete instances in which FINRA acts as a secret gatekeeper of sorts, exercising its own subjective judgment, without anyone knowing what, exactly, it is doing or why, employing...more
On August 7, 2019, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") issued a Regulatory Notice (the "Notice") intended to advise broker-dealers about the Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") recently adopted...more
In light of the significance of Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) for the financial services industry, Drinker Biddle & Reath’s Best Interest Compliance Team is publishing a series of articles on the Securities and Exchange...more