On February 6, 2024, the SEC adopted new rules under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act), to expand the scope of “dealers” and “government securities dealers” required to register under the Exchange Act, become...more
5/24/2024
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Government Securities ,
Investment ,
New Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Traders
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
1/19/2024
/ Annual Reports ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cybersecurity ,
Due Diligence ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Money Laundering ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
I. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW -
Gary Gensler’s tenure-to-date as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) is striking for its exceptionally active rulemaking agenda. Two rulemakings of tremendous import to...more
11/9/2023
/ Advertising ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Statements ,
Investment Management ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SEC Advertising Rule ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Shareholders
Regulators Hit Jackpot: Off-Channel Communications -
Several years before announcing the first “off-channel” communications enforcement action, the SEC and FINRA cautioned broker-dealers and investment advisers about...more
10/11/2023
/ Annuities ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Best Interest Standard ,
Breach of Contract ,
Class Action ,
COBRA ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Insurance Products ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Financial Contracts ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Health Insurance ,
Insider Trading ,
Insurance Fraud ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Insurance Regulations ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Investment Management ,
Life Insurance ,
Money Market Funds ,
Mutual Funds ,
NAIC ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
No-Action Letters ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
NYDFS ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Retirement ,
Robocalling ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour
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
9/29/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Electronic Communications ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Regular Business Communications ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Media ,
Texting ,
WhatsApp
For broker-dealers distributing and selling variable annuities, examinations will test for compliance with Reg BI and FINRA Rule 2330 because both standards apply to variable annuity sales. Firms distributing and selling...more
FINRA intends to conduct 1,000 Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) examinations — covering almost one-third of FINRA member firms — by year-end....more
On January 10, 2023, FINRA issued its 2023 Report on FINRA’s Examination and Risk Monitoring Program to provide “insight into findings from the recent oversight activities of FINRA’s Member Supervision, Market Regulation and...more
On November 1, 2022, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 22-23, which provides member firms with guidance on succession planning. Although the notice imposes no new legal or regulatory requirements, it provides insight into how...more
Recent settled enforcement actions illustrate FINRA’s expansive view of what it means to “participate” in a private securities transaction. Private securities transactions, sometimes characterized as “selling away,” involve...more
On February 9, 2022, FINRA issued the 2022 Report on FINRA's Examination and Risk Monitoring Program to provide firms with "information that may help their compliance programs." The 2022 report addresses 21 topic areas. For...more
Social media influencers are individuals, sometimes celebrities, who help businesses gain customers through social media communications. Influencers may communicate, for example, on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube,...more
Not long after the SEC adopted Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) and the related Form CRS Relationship Summary in June 2019, the SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (now the Division of Examinations) issued...more
Continued FINRA Focus -
If regulatory developments in 2020 are any indication, FINRA’s efforts to protect senior customers from financial exploitation and vulnerability will continue in 2021 and beyond....more
The SEC has approved amendments to FINRA’s corporate financing rule. The purpose of the rule is to allow FINRA to determine that public offering terms and conditions are not unfair, unreasonable, or inconsistent with FINRA...more
As the June 30, 2020, compliance date approaches, broker-dealers are taking steps to implement Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), which establishes a new standard of conduct when making recommendations to retail customers of...more
2/6/2020
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Consumer Insurance Products ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Form CRS ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Life Insurance ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Regulation BI ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions ,
Standard of Conduct
New York Pushes Mutual Fund Active Share Disclosure -
New York’s Attorney General issued a report on its recent investigation of fees charged by actively managed equity mutual funds and a metric known as “Active Share.”...more
7/23/2018
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Annuities ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Churning ,
Class Action ,
COI Rates ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Data Security ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insurance Investment Products ,
Investment Companies ,
Life Insurance ,
Lucia v SEC ,
MassMutual ,
Mutual Funds ,
NAIC ,
Policy Terms ,
Preemption ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SLUSA ,
Unclaimed Property
FINRA has proposed a major paradigm shift for regulating outside business activities (OBAs) and private securities transactions (PSTs) of broker-dealer personnel. ...more
In late 2017, FINRA pronounced in Regulatory Notice 17-30 that, "Beginning on October 1, 2018, unregistered persons cannot accept an order from a customer under any circumstances. ...more
Regulators Demand Third-Party Risk Management -
While third-party risk management has been a required component of an effective enterprise risk management program for many years, the topic is receiving elevated attention...more
4/18/2017
/ Article III ,
Clean Shares ,
Elder Abuse ,
Exploitation ,
Fiduciary Exception ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Life Insurance ,
Mutual Funds ,
NAIC ,
Reinsurance ,
Sales Commissions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Settlement Cycles ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
Third Party Funding ,
Third-Party Risk ,
Unfair Competition Law (UCL) ,
Variable Annuities ,
Vulnerable Victims
Broker-dealers, including principal underwriters of insurance products, may retain required records in electronic format, subject to satisfaction of longstanding conditions. One such condition is that the records must be...more
- Should Your Company Purchase Bitcoin to Pay a Cyber Ransom?
- NAIC Draws Line in CFPB Sandbox
- NAIC’s Big Data Task Force Sets Charges for 2017
- Broker-Dealers Can Hold Customers’ Initial Checks...more
1/9/2017
/ Annuities ,
Big Data ,
Bitcoin ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cross-Selling ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Currency ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinTech ,
Insurance Industry ,
Life Insurance ,
NAIC ,
OCC ,
Prudential Insurance ,
Ransomware ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
STOLI ,
Trump Administration ,
Usury ,
Virtual Currency
For two years FINRA has made sales and marketing of L-Share variable annuities (VAs) a regulatory and examination priority. Not surprisingly, FINRA in November announced settled actions against eight broker-dealers, alleging...more
- AXA Prevails at First Post-Jones v. Harris Excessive Fee Trial
- Potential Secondary Effects of Regulatory Examinations: Evidentiary Issues and Preclusion in Parallel Litigation
- On The Horizon: Global...more
10/31/2016
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Annuities ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
CFTC ,
Class Action ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
EU ,
European Economic Area (EEA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
FSB ,
Gartenberg Factors ,
Healthcare ,
Industry Examinations ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Companies ,
Life Insurance ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Long-Term Care ,
Meals-Gifts-and Entertainment Rules ,
Mutual Funds ,
NAIC ,
NYDFS ,
Passporting ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Retirement Plan ,
RICO ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Solvency II ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Unicorns
On August 5, FINRA proposed amendments to its gifts rule (Rule 3220) along with new rules to replace the current provisions governing noncash compensation (new Rule 3221) and business entertainment (new Rule 3222). These...more