Payment for Order Flow (PFOF) and Gamification: Your Questions Answered
Summer Enforcement Action Review; Raising Money in a Pandemic - Investment Management Roundtable Discussion
Investment Management and Private Funds Roundtable – June 2020
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – FinTech initiatives
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – Fiduciary investment advice: The patchwork emerges
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – SEC enforcement
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – Complying with new SEC rules for broker-dealers
Investment Management Roundtable Discussion – Regulatory and Enforcement Update
Regulation Best Interest Videocast Series: Establishing An Investment Platform Post-Regulation BI
Investment Management Update - Focus on Data Privacy and Cybersecurity
This amendment builds on FINRA’s recent willingness to relax the prohibition on the use of projections and targeted returns in the marketing materials broker-dealers deliver to institutional investors and qualified...more
On January 9, 2024, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority published its 2024 FINRA Annual Regulatory Oversight Report. Previously titled Report on FINRA’s Examination and Risk Monitoring Program, the Report is released...more
A September report of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) on broker-dealer compliance with the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) finds...more
Welcome to the latest issue of Bracewell’s FINRA Facts and Trends, a monthly newsletter devoted to condensing and digesting recent FINRA developments in the areas of enforcement, regulation and dispute resolution. This month,...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
Hermione Granger (yes, from Harry Potter) is famously attributed with the following quote: “I’m going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed. Or worse, expelled.” Unfortunately,...more
The 2023 priorities letter represents only a sliver of the topics firms can expect exam teams to cover this year. In developing the priorities, SEC staff noted their outreach directly to state securities regulators and...more
The risk alert highlights deficiencies the staff identified during examinations and provides examples of weak practices observed at firms. EXAMS staff intends for the alert to assist broker-dealers in reviewing and enhancing...more
Yes, (somehow) it is that time of year again. FINRA recently released its 2023 Report on its Examination and Risk Monitoring Program (the “Report”). As is typical (and this blog has well-covered), it contains a mix of old and...more
Allegations of unauthorized trading claims present significant risks for investment brokers and brokerage firms. In addition to investor arbitration with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), brokers and...more
Welcome to the latest issue of Bracewell’s FINRA Facts and Trends, a monthly newsletter devoted to condensing and digesting recent FINRA developments in the areas of enforcement, regulation and dispute resolution. This...more
FINRA recently hosted a conference call with its smaller members covering Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS compliance. FINRA’s resounding message was that there is “no one-size-fits all” approach to Reg. BI...more
We have made it a point previously in this blog to track developments of the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), even speculating more aggressive enforcement actions could be coming due to certain Reg BI deficiency...more
Two Years Later, Regulation BI Remains a “Tremendous Priority” for FINRA - June 30th marked two years since the implementation of Regulation Best Interest (“Reg BI”) and the client relationship summary or Form CRS. Firm...more
I attended the four-day SIFMA Compliance and Legal seminar last week, and there were a bunch of interesting soundbites from regulators that folks might find interesting. The challenge at these conferences is always...more
In This Issue. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a new rule to increase market transparency regarding short selling and extended the comment period for its proposed rule requiring reporting on...more
This is the first in a series of alerts discussing topics covered by FINRA in its 2022 Examination and Risk Monitoring Program Report (the “Report”). Here we take a look at Regulation Best Interest (“Reg. BI”) and Form CRS,...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
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
The importance of investment advisers and broker-dealers to comply with obligations under Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS was highlighted by the recent filing of 27 enforcement actions by the Securities and Exchange...more
During a May 19, 2021 webcast at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (“FINRA”) annual conference, Amy Sochard, FINRA’s Vice President of Advertising Regulation, indicated that the organization will seek public...more
Putting Teeth on Reg BI (to take a bite out of complex products sales), Protecting Seniors (from romance scams, affinity frauds, and rogue POAs), Scrutinizing Bank-Based Reps, DBAs, and Remote Supervision, and the beginning...more
In the face of volatile markets and a global pandemic, an old capital markets vehicle has been taking the markets by storm: special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). Although SPACs have been around for many years, the...more
Why It Matters - The 2021 Report on FINRA’s Examination and Risk Monitoring Program serves as an authoritative resource for member firms to evaluate and, where necessary, enhance their compliance programs and operations...more
The world has changed a lot in the last 12 months, but those in the securities industry can always rely on their trusty regulator, FINRA, to put out its annual priorities list to provide some semblance of consistency in the...more