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 October 21, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission Division of Examinations published its examination priorities for fiscal year 2025.1 In this alert, we offer ten observations for broker-dealers. Our observations...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
While it is pretty likely that anyone reading this is already familiar with the Wells process, I am going to start with a short history lesson. Way back in 1972, the SEC created an Advisory Committee to take an objective look...more
Recent months have seen a significant increase in litigation around, and regulatory scrutiny by the SEC and FINRA of, cash sweep programs offered to retail advisory clients and brokerage customers. Many of these...more
Is FINRA constitutional? Two cases currently playing out in D.C. federal courts, Alpine Securities Corp. v. FINRA and Kim v. FINRA, tee up that question. But the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is an unusual target...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
Welcome to the Regulatory Roundup. Each month, Eversheds Sutherland Investment Services attorneys review significant regulatory developments (including notable rulemakings and guidance from securities regulators) from the...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and the Exchanges were active across a host of regulatory issues impacting fintech companies and broker-dealers during...more
I have watched enough medical shows over the years, from the awesome St. Elsewhere to the never-ending Grey’s Anatomy, to have heard umpteen times that the Hippocratic Oath includes the admonition that doctors “do no harm.” ...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
In our post at the end of June of this year we analyzed the Supreme Court’s decision in SEC v Jarkesy, which held that the right to trial by jury in an Article III Court contained in the Seventh Amendment to the Constitution...more
On August 27, FINRA accepted a broker dealer firm’s Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) regarding alleged trade reporting violations and supervisory failures. According to the AWC, the respondent failed to include...more
On August 14, 2024, FINRA published an update (the “Update”) on its ongoing efforts to engage with its members related to crypto asset activities. The Update describes “crypto assets” as assets that are issued or transferred...more
Recently, FINRA accepted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) against a broker providing self-directed, online brokerage services to institutional and retail customers. The broker previously received a $595,000...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: •Judge Paul Engelmayer’s decision on defendants’ motion to...more
On July 31, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it agreed to settle allegations that a California-based broker-dealer sold in excess of $13 million in “L bonds,” a speculative, unrated debt...more
On July 29, FINRA accepted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) against a full-service broker-dealer for allegedly failing to establish a supervisory system connected to non-traded real estate investment trusts...more
On July 19, FINRA accepted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) from a member firm to resolve alleged Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) violations. According to the AWC, from June 2020 to March 2023, the member...more
In an unusual move, on July 26, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stayed an order that was previously issued by its own Division of Trading and Markets just one week earlier on July 19, 2024. That order...more
On July 12, FINRA accepted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent from a broker-dealer alleging that it did not enforce its written supervisory procedures related to outside business activities of its registered...more
On July 10, FINRA accepted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent against a broker-dealer related to missing information on transaction confirmations. From June 2020 to September 2023, the broker-dealer allegedly failed...more
In the first half of 2024, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued several fines and suspensions against participants in the municipal market, including for violations of its registration, reporting,...more
On July 8, FINRA accepted a firm’s Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent imposing a censure and a $300,000 fine. The firm is a wholesale distributor of variable insurance products and mutual funds. Between March 2018 and...more