News & Events – Compliance and Regulatory Alerts

FINRA Enforcement has recently initiated enforcement actions concerning mutual funds and brokers of record centering around client impact, remediation, and other issues. Read the full Alert to learn more about FINRA Enforcement's focus on "brokers of record," and other products on the regulator’s radar.

On September 15, 2020, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) issued an alert urging investment advisers and broker-dealers to review their customer account protection safeguards and identity theft prevention programs. The impetus behind the alert is an increase in the number of cyber-attacks using a tactic called “credential stuffing,” observed during recent examinations. OCIE also disclosed a number of practices firms are using to mitigate this emergent risk.

Labor Day is almost here, which means those lazy, remote days of summer are coming to a close. What did you miss when you powered down this summer? We have a roundup of all the important Bates news, events and alerts from July and August as well as a sneak peek of the next few months to help you head into Fall fully prepared. 

In an effort to broaden investment opportunities in private funds, the SEC expanded the definition of “accredited investor” to include a host of “natural persons” and other entities that would not otherwise qualify under the current rigorous disclosure and procedural requirements. The revised definition is intended to increase the number of investors that will have access to private investments.

On August 12, 2020 the SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) staff alerted broker-dealers and investment advisers to additional COVID-19 compliance risks. The new considerations are based on the “operational, technological [and] commercial challenges” raised by the public and private sector response to the pandemic. OCIE staff grouped their observations and recommendations into several categories—here’s what you need to know:  

Investment advisers that manage private equity or hedge funds (“private funds advisers”) should review and enhance their compliance procedures to protect investors from (i) improper fees and expenses, (ii) conflicts of interest that may exist between the adviser and the fund, and (iii) the misuse of material non-public information (MNPI). That is the message communicated by an OCIE Risk Alert, published June 23, 2020. The Alert identified compliance deficiencies observed by SEC staff during recent examinations of private fund advisers.

The SEC has approved final FINRA amendments to its rules on suitability and non-cash compensation. The final amendments ensure that FINRA’s rules line up with the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI). Read our review of the final rule changes, which became effective today, June 30th, 2020, the same date as Reg BI.

The June 30th, 2020 implementation date for SEC Regulation Best Interest and the corresponding Customer Relationship Summary (Form CRS) is only one month away. At a recent SIFMA panel discussion covering a host of priorities amid COVID-19, FINRA legal, risk and supervision executives focused on some of the immediate concerns regarding Reg BI and Form CRS, including their examination focus and the suitability rule. Bates Compliance has the details.

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."

The countdown is on! Join our complimentary Form CRS for IAs webinar Thursday, April 30, 2020. Specifically designed for SEC-registered IAs, this webinar will help you tackle Form CRS with confidence. Presented by Bates Compliance.

The SEC recently adopted new Rule 498A under the Securities Act, including various supporting amendments, to “simplify and streamline” the disclosure framework for variable annuities and variable life insurance contracts. As Bates described when the rule was first proposed, the new rule allows for a plain-English, easy to read, concise “summary prospectus” to satisfy obligations under the securities laws concerning variable product prospectus delivery. Read more to prepare for the July 1, 2020 effective date.

On April 7, 2020, the SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations issued two new alerts to broker-dealers and investment advisers about the “expected scope and content” of its compliance examinations for Reg BI and the Client Relationship Summary (“Form CRS”). Previously, SEC Chair Jay Clayton announced that the June 30, 2020 compliance deadline for Reg BI will not be delayed due to the impact of COVID-19. These alerts, therefore, underscore the need for firms to be prepared and compliant by the deadline. Here, we detail what the SEC is expecting from you and firms.

Compliance is challenging to begin with, but in this new landscape, it is an even greater stretch for compliance teams to manage company-wide systems while working remotely. Here are five items you should be thinking about when addressing supervision and control functions.

The SEC’s IAA Release No. 5469 on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 amends its IAA Release No. 5463 and now allows for extending the filing and delivery deadline dates of the Form ADV amendment to June 30, 2020 due to COVID-19 and its consequences. The SEC has also amended the notice requirements—find out what you MUST do if you cannot meet the filing deadlines.

In a Notice issued on February 27, FINRA advised firms of their responsibilities over custodial accounts under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act and Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (“UTMA/UGMA”) and warned members that adequate compliance requires firms to take into account termination of custodianship and changes of authority. Bates can help your firm respond to UTMA/UGMA account inquiries.

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. “