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 SEC has proposed new rules designed to regulate potential conflicts of interest associated with broker-dealers’ and investment advisers’ use of certain AI-related technologies in their interactions with investors.
The...more
9/7/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Consumer Protection Act ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investors ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Predictive Analytics ,
Proposed Rules ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
The Financial Stability Oversight Council on April 21, 2023, released for public comment a proposed analytic framework for financial stability risk identification, assessment and response (Proposed Framework) and proposed...more
At an open meeting on March 15, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted three to two to propose a new rule, form and amendments (together, “Proposed Rule”) and published an accompanying release (“Release”)...more
5/11/2023
/ Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Incident Response Plans ,
MSBSPs ,
New Rules ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Popular ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
SBSD ,
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)
After a decade of regulatory inaction on the matter, the SEC recently re-proposed regulations implementing the Dodd-Frank Act’s prohibition on material conflicts of interest in securitization transactions.
The proposed...more
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
Perhaps in anticipation of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s four rulemakings on order execution and handlings, the staff of the SEC’s Division of Examinations (Division) released a risk alert (Risk Alert) on November...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 Securities and Exchange Commission in 2019 issued significant new rules and interpretations addressing the standards of conduct for broker-dealers, in the form of Regulation Best Interest, and the standards of conduct for...more
10/3/2022
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compensation ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Duty of Care ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Conduct
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued a regulatory notice clarifying the scope of supervisory liability under FINRA Rule 3110 of a broker-dealer’s chief compliance officer (CCO) (Regulatory Notice). FINRA’s Head...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission on February 9, 2022 proposed to: shorten the standard settlement cycle for most broker-dealer securities transactions from two business days following the trade date (T+2) to one...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
2/9/2022
/ Beneficial Owner ,
CFTC ,
Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Large Traders ,
Private Funds ,
Private Placements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Required Forms ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
The Securities and Exchange Commission, in a November 18, 2021 release (Release), proposed Rule 10c 1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Proposed Rule). If adopted, the Proposed Rule would require certain persons...more
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) on October 6, 2021, published a regulatory notice (“Notice”) requesting comment on a proposal requiring broker-dealers to publish quarterly order routing disclosure...more
11/12/2021
/ American Depository Receipts (ADRs) ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Comment Period ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Equity Securities ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Investment Management ,
Regulation NMS ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Transactions
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Examinations (EXAMS) published its report on 2021 Examination Priorities on March 3, 2021. The 2021 Examination Priorities cover eight broad topics:
- The protection...more
3/30/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Assets ,
ETFs ,
FinTech ,
Form CRS ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Examinations (Staff) on February 26, 2021, published a Risk Alert (Risk Alert)1 regarding digital asset securities.2 The Risk Alert highlights observations...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
The Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets (Staff) issued a no-action letter to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority on September 25, 2020 (Letter), in which the Staff stated...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 3-2 on October 7, 2020 to publish for comment a proposed conditional exemption (Proposed Exemption), which would allow a natural person to act as a “finder” to connect accredited...more
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 U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) on June 29, 2020 issued a release (the “Release”) proposing an important new initiative for retirement accounts (“Plans”) that are subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security...more
7/20/2020
/ 1975 Rule ,
Banks ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Brokers ,
Comment Period ,
Covered Transactions ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Exemptions ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Five-Part Test ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
New Guidance ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retirement Plan ,
Rollover Equity
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