When I started my blog I had a vision of a dialogue among professionals engaged in the securities industry. But at that time I was more of a lawyer than an entrepreneur. Lawyers believe that everyone wants to understand the smallest detail about a law. What I have found is that clients and prospective clients […]
While we were off enjoying the 4th of July in the middle of the week, FINRA was issuing Regulatory Notice 18-20—Digital Assets. It is short and seemingly rather innocent. But read it closely. A few weeks ago some FINRA members were contacted by their Regulatory Coordinators and asked if they were doing anything with digital […]
The world seems to be in a state of complete chaos. But if you are a Chief Compliance Officer of a broker-dealer or investment adviser you may have noticed that the SEC and FINRA have not let all of the chaos alter their focus. Deregulation has not set in with either body. So for […]
Today February 7, 2018, the SEC released its Examination Priorities for 2018. Their focus this year is the retail investor. Prior areas of focus have been subcategorized under the larger retail market. Those include: electronic investment advice, fixed income execution, mutual funds and ETFs, never examined registered investment advisors, wrap accounts and municipal advisors and […]
Happy New Year. I know it is a new year because FINRA has issued its Regulatory and Examination Priorities Letter. As with every yearly letter, it mostly covers the topics from the prior year. This year Operational and Financial Risks are clearly going to be a focus of examinations. Not surprising in the Sales Practice Section […]
As I open my new law office I decided it was time to relaunch my Blog/Website. So as of today I have a new look on my Blog. Come back as I write not only about broker-dealers, investment advisors and other financial institutions, but also about the practice of law for those entities. Also you […]
We are in the fourth full day of the administration of the 45th President. During the campaign he made a lot of promises. One was to reduce regulation. There were not a lot of specifics, but his nominations for cabinet positions would indicate that regulatory reduction is on the way. How is the reduction in […]
