News & Events –

We had originally planned to continue our discussion on the dangers of employee theft of trade secrets in part two of last week's blog. However, due to the unprecedented and largely unexpected result of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union, we have decided to push back part two until next week and instead focus on this historic event.

As a fraud and forensic expert, I am often confronted with the challenges companies face with employee theft. Preventing the theft of trade secrets often requires the implementation of systems that will restrict and/or deter employees from even trying to take information with them when they leave. But how are financial services companies managing this process in a highly mobile workforce?

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) plans to issue its long-anticipated fiduciary rule by April 2017, according to a proposed rule posted on the Office of Management and Budget website on May 18th of this year.

On June 8th - the same day that President Barack Obama vetoed legislation that would have vacated the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule - the American Council for Life Insurers (ACLI), the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) and six NAIFA chapters from Texas filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Crowdfunding is the practice of raising funds from a large number of people, often in small amounts. Historically, it is best known as a way for political candidates to raise funds from their supporters. Recently, crowdfunding has been associated with companies using internet portals such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo to raise funds or accept donations in order to launch a new product or support an idea.

Last week, we discussed various estimates of the financial impact of elder investor abuses and began examining what is being done to address this significant problem. We will pick up today at that same point.

Last Monday, in a speech delivered during the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) Public Policy conference in Washington, D.C., U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, urged securities regulators to contact Congress and ask them to pass the Senior$afe Act of 2015, which would allow financial professionals to report suspected financial exploitation of seniors.

As we have discussed previously, the Department of Labor (DOL) released a new rule requiring anyone providing investment advice to retirement plans and accounts do so under the DOL’s new fiduciary standards.  These new standards are centered on protecting consumers from receiving investment advice that may be tainted by a conflict of interest on the part of the financial advisor (FA).

On May 5, 2016, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed a new rule which would prohibit mandatory arbitration clauses that prevent consumers from filing class-action lawsuits against financial institutions.

On April 6, 2016, the Department of Labor (DOL) finalized its new rule and related exemptions requiring all who provide retirement investment advice to retirement plans and IRAs, extending to IRA rollovers, to abide by a "fiduciary" standard. The effective date of the rule is April 2017 with certain provisions phasing in through January 2018.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) released a new proposal Thursday aimed at meeting the incentive compensation requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. The proposal, which was initially presented in 2011, seeks to lengthen deferred bonus compensation requirements and strengthen clawback provisions found in many large financial firms.

Last week the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners ("ACFE") issued its 2016 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse ("Global Fraud Study"). In the Global Fraud Study, the ACFE analyzed 2,410 cases reported by Certified Fraud Examiners from January 2014 through October 2015 covering 114 countries and over $6.3 billion in losses.

The DOL has released its much anticipated fiduciary rule, and now the long process of determining its true impact on the securities industry can begin.

This week, the SEC approved a proposed FINRA rule change that will require educational materials to be supplied to investors who are considering transferring their accounts in order to follow their representative as he/she switches from one member firm to another.

We may be as little as ten days away from the final form of the controversial fiduciary standard rule from the Department of Labor (DOL).

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided to leave interest rates unchanged at 0.25-0.50% after a two day meeting.