The United States House of Representatives voted 279-136 to pass the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (“FIT21”), on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. FIT21 is the first crypto-related legislation to clear...more
In the past year, environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) practices have faced heightened scrutiny in the United States from state attorneys general, state and federal legislators, other government officials, and...more
6/21/2023
/ 401k ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Asset Management ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Mismanagement ,
Popular ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
Risk Management
Over the last six months, artificial intelligence (AI) has captured the public imagination in a way it never has before. A new generation of AI-powered language models make use of a deep learning architecture known as a...more
4/27/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Banking Sector ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Cybersecurity ,
Due Diligence ,
ECOA ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Lending ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Software
Whether a cryptocurrency product is a security is an issue with serious regulatory consequences. In recent years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has taken a broad position that various crypto assets are...more
11/19/2021
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Instruments ,
Financial Markets ,
Howey ,
Investment Contract ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Virtual Currency
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)
On April 21, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed a long-anticipated framework for valuation of fund investments. Proposed Rule 2a-5 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 would establish requirements...more
4/26/2020
/ Board of Directors ,
Comment Period ,
Fair Value Standard ,
Good Faith ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Investment Fund Vehicles ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Valuation
On November 2, 2018, the SEC Enforcement Division (“Division”) released its Annual Report summarizing the past year’s enforcement activity. In the 2018 fiscal year, the first full fiscal year that Stephanie Avakian and Steven...more
12/7/2018
/ Annual Reports ,
CEOs ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investor Protection ,
Personal Liability ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Retail Investors ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Reporting ,
Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative (SCSD)
Although the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff is currently drafting proposed rules relating to the standard of conduct for broker-dealers and investment advisers, several states have decided not to wait for...more
4/4/2018
/ Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Planning ,
Investment Adviser ,
Popular ,
Retirement Funds ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State and Local Government
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)
In a keynote speech to the Securities Enforcement Forum on October 26, 2017, U.S. SEC Division of Enforcement (Division) Co-Director Stephanie Avakian emphasized the protection of retail investors and cybersecurity as...more
11/10/2017
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
EDGAR ,
Hackers ,
Investment Management ,
Market Manipulation ,
Non-Public Information ,
OCIE ,
Popular ,
Retail Investors ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stock Prices
The Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 11, 2016 announced its examination priorities for this year, which “address issues across a variety...more
2/17/2016
/ Analytics ,
ETFs ,
Financial Institutions ,
OCIE ,
Popular ,
Retail Investors ,
Retirement ,
Risk Assessment ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities Exchanges ,
Variable Annuities