The SEC’s Division of Examinations (EXAMS) published its report on 2024 Examination Priorities on October 16, 2023.
The 2024 Examination Priorities continue to reflect an examination program that is vigorous and broad...more
12/18/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compensation ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Due Diligence ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Private Funds ,
REIT ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Examinations (Division) issued a Risk Alert (Risk Alert) on January 30, 2023 highlighting deficiencies its Staff observed during recent Regulation Best Interest...more
3/28/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Training ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Posting Requirements ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retail ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced, on November 14, 2022, a targeted exam focusing on broker-dealers’ practices for communications with retail investors regarding Crypto Assets (as defined below)....more
In 2021, the staff (the “Staff”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) surprised the industry when it issued an interpretation stating that fixed income securities (including asset-backed securities) fall...more
12/2/2022
/ American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Asset-Backed Securities ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Credit Enhancements ,
CREFC ,
Institutional Investors ,
No-Action Requests ,
Rule 144A ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
SIFMA
The Securities and Exchange Commission on October 12, 2022, adopted amendments to the electronic recordkeeping requirements for broker-dealers, security-based swap dealers (SBSDs), and major security-based swap participants...more
11/8/2022
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Jurisdiction ,
MSBSPs ,
New Amendments ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
SBSD ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Third-Party
The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (staff) issued a National Exam Program Risk Alert on August 12, 2020 (Risk Alert). The Risk Alert is intended to share...more
8/26/2020
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Protection ,
Fees ,
Fraud ,
Investment Adviser ,
OCIE ,
Popular ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Securities and Exchange Commission issued an order (Order)1 on June 29, 2020, under Section 17(h)(4) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, raising the thresholds for compliance with the recordkeeping and reporting...more
7/24/2020
/ Amended Rules ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investor Protection ,
OBDF ,
OIG ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Rule 17H ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Threshold Requirements
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations issued two Risk Alerts (Risk Alerts)1 on April 7, 2020, identifying the scope and content of OCIE’s initial examinations following the...more
The U.S. federal securities laws, the Commodity Exchange Act and regulations thereunder, and certain other applicable federal laws, rules and regulations, as well as rules of U.S. self-regulatory organizations (such as the...more
2/12/2020
/ Asset Management ,
BEA ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CFTC ,
Commodities Traders ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
Compliance ,
CPOs ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Equity Securities ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Form 13F ,
Form ADV ,
Form PF ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Funds ,
Large Traders ,
NFA ,
Private Funds ,
Private Placements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Schedule 13D ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on November 25, 2019 unanimously approved for publication a three-part rule proposal related to the use of derivatives and certain other transactions by registered investment...more
12/17/2019
/ BDC ,
Board of Directors ,
Comment Period ,
Compliance ,
Derivatives ,
Due Diligence ,
Form N-CEN ,
Form N-LIQUID ,
Form N-PORT ,
Investment Funds ,
Oversight Duties ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Repurchase Agreements ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority published its 2019 Report on Examination Findings and Observations (2019 Report) on October 16, 2019. This marks the third annual report of FINRA findings, but in a departure from...more
11/18/2019
/ Annual Reports ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Best Execution ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Communications ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Fixed Income Investments ,
Integrity Policies ,
Investment Adviser ,
Know Your Customers ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Short Sales ,
Supervision ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
UGMA ,
UTMA
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, on June 5, 2019, voted 3-1 in favor of adopting a package of rules, amendments and interpretations (Final Rules) intended to improve the retail investor experience and to provide...more
6/12/2019
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Dates ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Duty of Care ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Form CRS ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
New Rules ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Conduct
The Staff of the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released a Risk Alert on April 16, 2019, which identifies significant Regulation S-P (Reg. S-P)1...more
4/23/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Employee Training ,
Investor Protection ,
OCIE ,
Opt-Outs ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Popular ,
Privacy Policy ,
Registered Investment Companies (RICs) ,
Regulation S-P ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The U.S. federal securities laws, the Commodity Exchange Act and regulations thereunder, and certain other applicable federal laws, rules and regulations, as well as rules of U.S. self-regulatory organizations (such as the...more
1/31/2019
/ Commodities Traders ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Commodity Pool ,
Compliance ,
CPOs ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
NFA ,
Private Funds ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Next year’s examination priorities of the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission were announced on December 20, 2018, and cover six broad, albeit...more
12/22/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Compliance ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Assets ,
Elder Issues ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Market Infrastructure ,
MSRB ,
OCIE ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Retail Investors ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced two settled enforcement actions on November 16, 2018, imposing registration requirements and civil penalties against issuers of initial coin offerings (ICOs) for failing...more
12/6/2018
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Howey ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Registration Requirement ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Violations ,
Settlement ,
Unregistered Securities
The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on April 3, 2018 issued Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Customer Due Diligence Requirements for Financial Institutions (FAQs). The FAQs address various...more
4/13/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Joint Ownership ,
Legal Entity Identifiers ,
Mutual Funds ,
Retroactive Application ,
Verification Requirements
This year’s examination priorities of the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were announced on February 6, 2018, and cover five broad, albeit...more
3/9/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Budgets ,
Compliance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Elder Issues ,
ETFs ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Investor Protection ,
MSRB ,
Municipal Advisers ,
Mutual Funds ,
OCIE ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Retail Investors ,
Risk Assessment ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), on March 21, 2017, published a Special Notice soliciting comments on various existing FINRA engagement programs (Notice). This request for comment is one component of...more