News & Events

In a few weeks, a working group of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) will meet again in a continuing effort to complete a revision to the organization’s Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation. The goal of the working group remains a revision of the standards and procedures for providing appropriate recommendations to consumers “that result in transactions involving annuity products.” The group's progress took a detour in July when the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) issued a final regulation establishing its own “best interest” standard of care for recommendations of both annuity products and life insurance products.

Bates Research takes a look at some of the issues as they are playing out with respect to the very real New York requirements on the horizon, and the NAIC’s efforts to revise the standards on annuity products.

Bates is pleased to introduce the first of several new mini-interviews we will be sharing over the coming weeks on the occasion of Bates Group President and CEO Jennifer Stout’s 25th anniversary with Bates. In this video, "The Evolution of Bates," Jennifer discusses driving change to meet client and industry needs.

Bates Group is pleased to welcome accomplished financial services attorney Michael J. Lacek to Bates Group as an Affiliate Consultant and Expert. With over 35 years of litigation and regulatory experience, Mr. Lacek brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the areas of retirement and insurance products, including suitability and sales practices of life insurance and annuity products; securities and insurance regulatory matters; and large complex commercial transactions and litigation.

On October 1, FINRA announced that it will consolidate its Examination and Risk Monitoring Programs under a single structure. When completed in 2019, the move will incorporate business conduct, financial compliance and trading compliance under one unified framework. 

On September 25th, Michael S. Pieciak, Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, took the reins as the 101st president of the North American Securities Administrators Association (“NASAA”). That same day, NASAA’s Investment Adviser Section proposed a model rule that would require investment advisers to adopt policies and procedures regarding information security. NASAA also published the results of a series of “coordinated examinations of broker-dealer firms” that reviewed the heightened supervision plans of firms for registered representatives. Bates Research takes a closer look at these developments.

Bates Group Managing Director NY/NJ Susan L. Harper will be speaking on the Practicing Law Institute’s Securities Arbitration 2018 panel, “A Practicum on the Use of Experts,” in New York City, September 26, 2018.

Despite RegTech’s “potential to fundamentally transform how securities industry participants perform their compliance obligations,” RegTech tools also raise “new challenges and regulatory implications” that affect “supervision, vendor management, data privacy and security.” That is the explicit assumption underlying a new FINRA white paper summarizing the results of the SRO’s extensive outreach on the subject. Bates Research takes a closer look.

Bates Managing Director of Compliance Solutions Robert “Bob” Lavigne was quoted by Investment News in its in-depth story entitled “SEC Advice Rule Contains a Huge Hole.” 

Bates Group is pleased to welcome Gerald (“Jerry”) Baker, Financial Services Industry Leader and Consultant, to Bates Compliance Solutions. With over 45 years of Financial Services and Compliance experience, Mr. Baker brings a wealth of industry knowledge and expertise, having developed compliance programs and managed Compliance Department functions at major U.S. securities and financial services firms. He provides compliance and supervisory consulting and training, serving clients at financial services firms, trade associations and regulatory organizations.

FINRA is seeking input on proposed changes to the Securities Industry Continuing Education Program just as the SEC is considering responses to its request for comments on whether investment advisers should be subject to similar obligations. IAA President Karen Barr and NASAA President Joseph Borg have both submitted comments to the SEC. Bates Research has the latest developments.

Bates Group LLC announces the introduction of Bates Investor Risk Assessment (BIRA), a unique breakthrough program to protect broker-dealers and registered investment advisors (RIAs) and their vulnerable clients — seniors and retirees, minors, and those with diminished capacity — while continuing to meet regulatory expectations.

The North American Securities Administrators Association (“NASAA”) encouraged the SEC “to make significant revisions to its April 18 Regulation Best Interest and related proposals (“Reg. BI”) before adopting them in order to best serve the interests of investors.”

In NASAA’s comment letter on Reg. BI, NASAA cautioned the SEC to take it slow, be deliberate and, most importantly, to consider “significant improvements” in order to “promulgate final rules that will serve the best interest of investors as the Commission intends.” Bates Research takes a closer look at NASAA’s concerns and its recommendations to the SEC.

Bates Group welcomes Edward Longridge as the new Managing Director of Bates’ Financial Crimes practice. Based in New York City, Ed brings nearly 20 years of distinguished experience as an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Compliance and Financial Crimes leader at major multinational financial institutions.

As the summer winds down, regulators are positioning themselves for more oversight of the financial technology sector. On July 30, the U.S. Treasury Department released a national agenda on how it intends to regulate fintech companies, encourage innovation and harmonize federal efforts with state regulators. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency followed up the Treasury report with an announcement that it will begin to accept applications for special-purpose national bank charters for certain types of fintech companies. And on the same day as Treasury came out with its recommendations, FINRA issued a “Special Notice” seeking comment on fintech innovation in the broker-dealer industry. How are these developments going to impact the industry? Here’s a closer look.

Bates would like to introduce two of our newest experts, Olie Jolstad and Ed Laskowski.

As the deadline for comments on SEC Regulation Best Interest draws to a close, echoes from the debate on the Department of Labor (“DOL”) fiduciary rule can be heard in new concerns being raised before the Commission. In a recent speech getting a lot of attention, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce undertook an analysis of the proposed regulation. Bates Research takes a look at that and some other notable recent reactions.