News & Events –

Bates Group and Complidata today announced a partnership to combine leading financial crime industry expertise and Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) technology together in a joint approach to assist financial institutions with tuning and optimizing their anti-money laundering operations and compliance. Based in Belgium, Complidata is a leader in the use of A.I. to drive automation and optimization for improved regulatory compliance. The partnership will assist financial institutions with the tuning and optimization of their transaction monitoring and sanctions and name screening systems — significantly increasing efficiencies and effectiveness in their processes and procedures while reducing the percentages of false-positive alerts.

Bates Group is proud to welcome our newest experts and consultants: 

Amy Bard, Esq.- Sales Practice Litigation, Compliance, Senior Investors

Paula Barnes - Retail Industry Expert, Retail Contracts, Regulatory and Compliance investigations

Linda Houston - Wealth Management, Branch Management, Hiring and Recruiting, Retail Securities Litigation and Arbitration

Donald Mattersdorff, CFA - Investment Advisory, Risk Management, Securities Analysis (Equity and Fixed Income)

As Managing Director for Bates Group's Retail Litigation practice, Julie Johnstone manages and oversees financial litigation and arbitration matters. Her team assists broker-dealer and investment advisers, banks and insurance companies, as well as State and Federal Regulators, throughout the life cycle of their retail litigation matters, from early case assessments, profit and loss reports, damage analyses, and “what if” scenarios, to expert consultation and testimony at hearing, as well as mediation and settlement support. We asked Julie to consider the state of retail litigation in light of the pandemic and to anticipate some of the long-term implications on case management and dispute resolution going forward.

Bates continues our practice leadership conversations this week with Alex Russell, Managing Director of Bates’ White Collar, Regulatory and Internal Investigations Practice. Alex’s team supports corporations, financial services firms, law firms and regulators by bringing technical, big data analytics and managerial expertise to a variety of disputes and investigations. We asked Alex about investigations, big data and other regulatory issues now and possibly on the horizon. Get the details in today's Bates Practice Leadership Insights.

Robert Lavigne and Hank Sanchez are both quoted in the Investment News cover article, “The Sound of Silence,” concerning Reg BI and Form CRS, published on June 1, 2020. Mr. Lavigne is also quoted in a June 4, 2020 AdvisorHub article.

Bates continues our practice leadership conversations this week with Edward Longridge, Managing Director of Bates Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crimes Practice, for his views on the matters most pressing for AML officers right now, including coronavirus-related fraud, transaction monitoring, and third-party risk management. Here is a recap of our conversation.

The first part of this year has been challenging for the equity markets. In March, the S&P 500 Index plunged into bear market territory as volatility soared to historic levels. The sudden appearance of a severe global pandemic is just the most recent example of a “black swan event” roiling the markets. In this paper, Bates Director and expert Greg Kyle examines in detail bear markets, black swan events, and volatility to gain some perspective on how the recent—or current?—bear market compares with historical periods.

A message from Bates Group CEO Jennifer Stout

Bates Group’s industry-leading insurance, forensic accounting and economic damages experts stand ready to assist Insurers and agents in the many challenges they face as result of pandemic-related business interruptions, including pre-litigation claims reviews and multi-faceted support should a matter proceed to litigation.

In this first of a series of conversations with Bates Group practice leaders, we caught up with Robert Lavigne, Managing Director and Bates Compliance Practice Leader, and Hank Sanchez, Esq., Bates Compliance Managing Director and former SEC and FINRA regulator, to get an understanding of what they are hearing from compliance officers right now, as well as advice for compliance teams in the "new normal."

Bates Group is proud to welcome our newest experts and consultants: 

Kathy D. Ireland – ERISA, Investment Advisers Act, Codes of Ethics

Philip Lieberman, CPCO, CLU – Property and Casualty Insurance

Jennifer Luce – Accounting, Media, Publishing

Mike Steinmetz – Cybersecurity

Over the course of the last 40 years we’ve seen plenty of ups and downs in the markets. Along the way, Bates Group has helped our clients sort through the complexities and fallout by providing clear and accurate analyses, reporting, and expertise.

FINRA has announced that, in response to the evolving coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), it “has decided to administratively postpone all in-person arbitration and mediation proceedings scheduled through May 1, 2020. “

NSCP Regulatory Interchange with the SEC, DOL & FINRA: Moved to July 24, 2020 in Denver, CO. Bates Compliance Managing Director Linda Shirkey is a speaker/moderator.

Bates Compliance Practice Leader Robert “Bob” Lavigne is quoted in a new article entitled “Reg BI Compliance Race is On,” published by ThinkAdvisor.

If you’ve been in meetings about investor communications, business travel, or other contingency planning over the past few days and weeks, you are not alone. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus (also referred to as COVID-19) and more recently, the precipitous volatility of the financial markets, financial firms have been deluged with questions from just about every stakeholder group about how to respond. Regulators are weighing in as well. Bates looks at some of the efforts to prepare and reassure everyone out there.