Regulation Best Interest (“Reg BI”)

Regulation BI and Real-World Enforcement

When the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) initially proposed the Regulation Best Interest (“Reg BI”), many professionals within the financial services industry shrugged and treated it as another item that could be added to the daily pile of tasks, documentation, and industry noise. Three years into the practical application and enforcement actions, broker dealers are experiencing the consequences of resistance to change.  Fines, restitution, bans, and overall corrective actions can be significant, especially in respect to the originating event circumstances. Broker dealer responsibilities require establishment, maintenance, and enforcement of a supervisory system reasonably designed to achieve compliance with Reg BI’s Read more about Regulation BI and Real-World Enforcement[…]

FINRA announces OFAC search tool is retiring.

FINRA OFAC Search Tool Retiring

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) provides an OFAC search tool that many industry member firm’s use as part of their onboarding process for risk-based background reviews. As of January 3, 2023, FINRA’s OFAC search tool will be retired. We recommend that you notify all staff that normally do OFAC checks for your Firm so they can become familiar with the OFAC tool available through the United States Department of Treasury. What is OFAC? The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is the government agency that maintains the OFAC list. The OFAC list is a publicly available list and is made Read more about FINRA OFAC Search Tool Retiring[…]

This is a summary of the key findings of the SEC's charges regarding electronic communications.

Electronic and Technology Takeaways from SEC’s Billion Dollar Penalties

On September 22, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against 15 wall street broker-dealers and one affiliated investment adviser for widespread and longstanding failures by the firms and their employees to maintain and preserve electronic communications during January 2018 through September 2021 review period. You can read the commissions summary and links for all 15 orders here. Below are some of the key finding and takeaways.  Attestations Alone Don’t Protect the Firm   What’s key about these charges is that many of the Firm’s had procedures, training and even attestations in place for all Associated Persons to document and Read more about Electronic and Technology Takeaways from SEC’s Billion Dollar Penalties[…]

Regulatory Notice 22-12 TRACE Amendments

Regulatory Notice 22-12 TRACE Amendments

FINRA Adopts Amendments to TRACE Reporting Rule to Require Identification of Portfolio Trades  Effective May 15, 2023 if you trade in TRACE-eligible securities and those securities are part of a portfolio trade, you will be required to input an appropriate modifier. The Sale Condition 4 modifier, available via the TRAQS secure web browser and the TRACE FIX protocol (Tag 22004), will be available for this designation. Regulatory Notice 22-12 provides information on the new requirement and considerations for compliance.  Background  FINRA has amended Rule 6730 to require members to append a new portfolio trade modifier when reporting corporate bond trades Read more about Regulatory Notice 22-12 TRACE Amendments[…]

PTE and IRA Rollover Recommendation Considerations

PTE and IRA Rollover Recommendation Considerations

U.S. Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) recently published final prohibited transaction exemption regarding investment advice for IRA and ERISA plans (PTE 2020-02). This exemption became effective on February 16, 2021 allowing for a transition period to comply. Key elements include, written acknowledgments of fiduciary status by both the broker-dealer and the representative, disclosure of conflicts of interest and compensation information, the implementation of policies and procedures to mitigate or eliminate conflicts, as well as an annual reporting and certification of compliance. PTE’s conditions related to rollover recommendations went into effect on July 1st 2022. As we have worked with clients on Read more about PTE and IRA Rollover Recommendation Considerations[…]

Regulatory Notice 22-18: Forgery and Falsification

Regulatory Notice 22-18: Forgery and Falsification

Regulatory Notice 22-18  reminds firms of their rule obligation related to forgery and falsification of records and provides Firm’s with some specific examples that they have encountered from other Firms. These examples are great tools to review against your program and audit to ensure that your Firm is meeting rule requirements. What is Forgery or Falsification of a Record? Forgery occurs when one person signs or affixes, or causes to be signed or affixed, another person’s name or initials on a document without the other person’s prior permission. Falsification occurs when a person creates a document or entry in a Read more about Regulatory Notice 22-18: Forgery and Falsification[…]