November 1
Sunday (Nov. 1) was the 3rd anniversary of my law firm.
Is the FTX Scandal Something New?
The brief answer is no. Many years ago, as a young lawyer, my then boss, Phil Hoblin Sr. taught me that the method of the fraud doesn’t change, the instruments change. So did SBF come up with a new method to defraud people. He did not. He simply used crypto to commit his fraud. You […]
SO, IS YOUR CCO LIABLE FOR A FAILURE TO SUPERVISE OR NOT?
On March 17, 2022, FINRA released Regulatory Notice 22-10. It dealt with Supervision. I started to see posts, that FINRA had firmly stated that the CCO (Chief Compliance Officer) would not be disciplined for failures to supervise. The release states “The responsibility to meet these obligations (those outlined in Rule 3110) rests with a firm’s […]
FINRA Notice to Members 20-08
As mentioned last week FINRA has issued Notice to Members 20-08. Here are a few of the issues that it addresses. In Notice to Members 20-08 FINRA has granted relief to member firms as they try to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Most importantly is the ability to set up remote offices without having to make […]
FINRA on BCP and Coronavirus
As I wrote earlier this week, follow your regulators during this time of the coronavirus. FINRA has issued this notice. Regulatory Notice 20-08.
Update Your Business Continuity Plan Today
Now is the time to pull out your Business Continuity Plan and read it. You need to make sure that all of the information is accurate. Have you changed the location of your offsite location? Have you changed the policy on people working from home? Is your communication tree up to date? If you do […]
But I Only Have Institutional Investors: See How Reg BI impacts your business
On June 5, 2019, the SEC on a 3 to 1 vote approved Regulation Best Interest. This regulation is the SEC’s attempt to align broker-dealers with the fiduciary rule that governs investment advisers. It has been a long-held belief that broker-dealers have internal conflicts because they sell products that are packaged by affiliates and sell […]
FINDERS AND BROKERS: Who to pay?
Lately I have gotten a number of questions about raising capital for small companies. It usually starts with a question about someone who has good connections and believes that she can raise money for the company but wants to receive some type of compensation.
SEC Chair Asserts Authority Over the Staff
SEC Chair, John Clayton, issued a statement on September 14, 2018, that on its face should not have caused any concern. We have always known that the Commission oversees the work of the staff and that an individual staff member cannot bind the Commission. We know that No-Action letters are not binding although we […]
Private Placement Brokers and Finders, Oh My
In October of 2016, the SEC approved FINRA rules allowing for the registration of limited purpose broker-dealers, called capital acquisition brokers or CABs (see my blog post on November 1, 2016). This set of rules came about from a No-Action letter issued the year before that granted a no-action position for a very limited exemption […]
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