FINRA has recently issued a notice to members regarding to the enhancement of confirmation disclosures. Here is a link to that notice.
Compliance Issues The SEC Is Seeing
The Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (or OCIE) recently issued a Risk Alert that identified the five most frequent compliance topics that arising from OCIE examinations. These compliance topics include the following:
- Deficient compliance programs,
- Late or insufficient filings,
- Violations of the custody rule,
- Code of Ethics compliance deficiencies, and
- Books and records.
Among
When just saying “no” is a good thing
In the hectic world of financial services, registered representatives and investment adviser representatives are always looking to increase their assets under management. At what cost? Are there situations where you would be better off just saying no to accepting that one additional client?
In my many years of defending representatives and advisers from customer complaints,
The SEC Now Has A Lead Cybersecurity Senior Adviser: Now What?
The SEC recently created a new position associated with cybersecurity; senior adviser to the chair for cybersecurity (Christopher R. Hetner). Mr. Hetner has an extensive background in information technology and, in particular, cybersecurity.
According to the SEC, Mr. Hetner will be responsible for (i) coordinating cybersecurity efforts across the SEC; (ii) engaging with external stakeholders;
Firm Culture; What Is It And Why Does FINRA Care
FINRA has identified that firm culture is in its cross-hairs. But what is firm culture?
Trying to figure out what’s meant by firm culture reminds of my law school days studying First Amendment law and, in particular, cases addressing pornography. A former Supreme Court Justice, Potter Stewart, seemed to get it right when he said
Why Does FINRA Want to Regulate Your Firm’s Culture?
FINRA released its 2016 Exam Priorities yesterday, and its top priority ventures into a very grey area. FINRA has announced that beginning this year, it will formalize a process of assessing “firm culture”. In doing so, FINRA appears to be focused primarily on ethics and conflicts of interest and insists that it “does not seek
CEO-Pay Ratio Rule Adopted by the SEC
As we predicted last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a final rule that requires a public company to disclose the ratio of the compensation of its CEO to the median compensation of its employees. This measure was mandated under Dodd-Frank (section 953(b)), but the SEC maintains that its rule “provides companies with
A Look Ahead: SEC to Adopt CEO-Pay Ratio Rule?
According to Andrew Ackerman and Joann Lublin of the Wall Street Journal, the Securities and Exchange Commission is “poised to complete a rule requiring companies to disclose the pay gap between chief executives and employees”. Under the proposed rule, companies would be forced to disclose median worker pay as compared to their CEO compensation.
Is “Big Brother” Such A Bad Thing
FINRA recently announced a change to the supervision rule to require hiring firms to conduct background checks on new employees. This rule change raises the question; what have member firms been doing all along.
In this day and age of instant information, having a new registered representative complete his/her U-4 should have only been a
COLLUSION CLAIMS AGAINST PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM PROCEEDS
Former shareholders may pursue narrowed claims against some large private equity firms who allegedly conspired with one another minimizing competition for target companies. See Dahl v. Bain Capital Partners LLC, D. Mass., 07-12388, 3/13/13), http://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/document/Klein_et_a_v_Bain_Capital_Partners_LLC_et_at_Docket_No_107cv1238.
The plaintiffs previously held shares in various public companies that were, ultimately, acquired by private equity firms. The complaint