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
4/24/2024
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Electronic Communications ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
With limited amendments to its proposed rule, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), a division of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, recently promulgated its final rule (the “Reporting Rule”) implementing the...more
Garcia Case Highlights Necessity of Knowing Your Customer and Listening to Internal Fraud Watchdogs.
The SEC’s recent Order against a broker-dealer (the “Firm”) imposed a $750,000 financial penalty for the Firm’s failure...more
10/21/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Consent Order ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Know Your Customers ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Risk-Based Approaches ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Unregistered Brokers
Key Takeaways:
..On August 13, 2021, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 21-29 (“RN 21-29”) to remind member firms that they must establish and maintain an adequate supervisory system, including written supervisory procedures...more
8/18/2021
/ Books & Records ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Security ,
Due Diligence ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Internal Controls ,
New Guidance ,
Outsourcing ,
Professional License ,
Risk Management ,
Supervision ,
Third-Party Service Provider
For the past decade, anti-money laundering (“AML”) has been at the forefront of securities regulators’ priorities. Indeed, AML enforcement cases have resulted in some of the highest fines imposed by securities regulators,...more
6/7/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Fines ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Internal Controls ,
Regulatory Violations ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
FINRA recently filed a Complaint against a Chief Executive Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of a registered broker-dealer alleging, among other things, that the individual caused the broker-dealer to have wide-ranging...more
Being a small business owner is tough. You often wear several hats and juggle multiple responsibilities while you try to build a successful business. This is especially true for small financial services firms that are subject...more
In a troubling recently-released Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”), FINRA fined three Cetera Firms a total of $1,000,000 for failing to conduct the appropriate suitability review and to otherwise satisfy their...more
In a recent decision by a FINRA Office of Hearing Officers Panel, FINRA barred a registered individual who failed to produce his personal IRS tax transcripts, which were not in his immediate possession but rather maintained...more
FINRA’s final adjudicative body, the National Adjudicatory Counsel (“NAC”) recently issued a decision, affirming a Hearing Panel decision, sanctioning Silver Leaf Partners, LLC (“Silver Leaf”) for making improper payments to...more
“Statutory disqualification” as defined under Section 3(a)(39) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“the Exchange Act”), prevents a person under a statutory disqualification from associating with any FINRA Member Firm...more
The SEC’s Office of Compliance and Examinations (OCIE) issued a risk alert on July 10 about its observation of an apparent increase in sophistication of ransomware attacks on SEC registrants, including broker-dealers,...more
7/17/2020
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) ,
Malware ,
OCIE ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Alert ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
FINRA recently provided additional guidance on firms’ obligations to actively supervise the trading and performance of non-traditional exchange-traded funds (“NTETFs”) within their customers’ accounts. Specifically, in a...more
U.S. Securities firms are on the frontlines of one of the most volatile economic periods in history. With the Dow Jones Industrial Average flirting with the 30,000 mark in February, few firms could have predicted that the...more
The SEC continues to reiterate the role of broker-dealers as “gatekeepers to the securities markets” by focusing on firms’ anti-money laundering (“AML”) obligation. The import that the SEC, as well as FINRA, places on firms’...more
6/1/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
BSA/AML ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Customer Identification Program (CIP) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
OCIE ,
Personal Liability ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
On November 21, 2017, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 17-40 to provide member firms guidance regarding their obligations under FINRA Rule 3310 (Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Program) in light of the Financial Crimes...more