News & Events

Continuing to grow and expand its national reach, Bates Group welcomes Paul Lambert as a Strategic Advisor and Consulting Expert. A 30-year financial services veteran at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Paul will be working with senior leadership to expand our client engagement across the business. Read the full announcement to learn more about Paul and the experience he brings to the Bates team.

FINRA remained active this summer with a series of important proposed rule changes and risk-related compliance reminders. Here’s a summary to keep you up to date.

Responding to the growing popularity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, in 2015 the New York Superintendent of Financial Services came up with the idea for a new charter called BitLicense, based on the historic template for bank and trust charters. In this article, Bates expert Paul Nelson takes a look at the past, present, and future of the BitLicense program, in the larger context of today's crypto market.

The Bates main office has recently relocated from Lake Oswego to Portland.

Did Shakespeare get it right? Is past really prologue when it comes to your mutual fund share class selection, conflicts, and disclosures?  Find out how Bates can help you put the past in the past.  

On August 3, 2022, SEC staff issued new guidance addressing conflicts of interest under the Regulation Best Interest (“Reg BI”) standard for broker-dealers and the fiduciary standard for investment advisers. While the staff bulletin states clearly that the guidance is intended only to be a reflection of internal views on the subject, its tone, comprehensiveness (replete with numerous examples), and even its pragmatic question-and-answer format warrant careful attention. Read our full analysis for details on this new guidance and how it could impact your firm or clients.

Bates Managing Director Julie Johnstone was quoted in a recent InvestmentNews Article on the increase of Reg BI Customer Cases in FINRA Arbitration.

Bates Managing Director Brandi Reynolds (CAMS-Audit) is quoted in a new ACAMS Insights article discussing efforts to develop a federal regulatory framework for crypto and virtual assets.

The mandatory compliance deadline for the SEC marketing rule—which replaced the former Advertising Rule and the Cash Solicitation Rule—is November 4, 2022. Advisers should be reviewing, revising, and preparing to implement procedures and policies to prevent potential violations. There’s still time, but there’s also a lot to consider, as the rule consolidates previous SEC guidance, no-action letters and exam findings on questions concerning recommendations, testimonials, and the presentation of performance metrics. Here’s what you need to know.

FINRA has filed with the SEC proposed changes to FINRA Rule 3110 to add new Supplementary Material 3110.19 (Residential Supervisory Location). The changes allow a home office to be considered a non-branch “residential supervisory location” under certain conditions. By this proposal, FINRA is adapting to a new, post-pandemic model in which employees work at both conventional offices and in their private residences—a model which FINRA acknowledges is likely to “endure.” Read the full article for details on these proposed rule changes.

Join Bates Group and the South Carolina Emerging Tech Association for a drink & evening of all things crypto! Whether you're brand new to crypto or are a seasoned trader, everyone is welcome! July 26, 2022, in Spartanburg, SC.

Bates Group and MSBA celebrate the return of MSBA's Summer Lunch & Learn Series this Wednesday, July 13, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. ET. Senior Consultant John Ashley, CIPP/US, CRCMP, from Bates' MSB, FinTech and Cryptocurrency practice, joins other compliance experts to address takeaways and applications from Chapters 1-6 of The Best Practices for US MSBs.

Bates Group Managing Director Brandi Reynolds, CAMS-Audit, will join this expert panel to discuss how financial institutions can identify crypto-related financial crime risks and how to respond. Register today to join this complimentary webinar - Wednesday, July 13, 2022 @ 11:00 a.m. ET.

An inevitable—if somewhat subtle—milestone was reached this month for Regulation Best Interest. Posted on FINRA’s monthly dispute resolution statistics page are numbers related to the top 15 security types in customer arbitrations, and coming in at number 14 (through May 2022) was Reg BI. Other recent developments in dispute resolution include movement on rule proposals concerning accelerating processes for elderly claimants, and amendments to align the arbitration code with a new federal law on sexual assault and harassment. FINRA also committed to producing a plan to enhance the transparency of the arbitrator selection process. In addition, the SEC has issued a new primer on arbitration and mediation. Here are the highlights to note.

Bates Group is expanding its national MSB, FinTech, and Cryptocurrency Practice with the addition of three leading Money Services Business industry professionals — including AML trailblazer Connie Fenchel.

Timed to coincide with World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15, 2022, federal and state government officials issued proclamations, advisories, and new resources to help in the fight against senior financial abuse. Despite many government initiatives now in place to go after the perpetrators of elder financial abuse, the problem continues to grow. Taken together, these latest government alerts offer a snapshot of where things stand. In this article, we take a look at the most significant developments.