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The SEC’s New Marketing Rule - Webinar Takeaways

12-21-21

The SEC’s New Marketing Rule - Webinar Takeaways

Get the top takeaways to help you deconstruct the SEC's 400-plus-page adopting release of the new Marketing (and Solicitor) Rule. Read this helpful summary from Bates Compliance’s recent Webinar featuring Managing Directors and leading Compliance Consultants Linda Shirkey and Rhonda Lear Davis, CAMS, CFE. Learn about key provisions and practical ways to conform oversight, recordkeeping and disclosure requirements under the rule.

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SEC Exam Division Issues Alerts on Robo-Advisory Services and IA Fee Calculations Upon Finding Deficiencies

12-02-21

SEC Exam Division Issues Alerts on Robo-Advisory Services and IA Fee Calculations Upon Finding Deficiencies

This month, the SEC Division of Examinations issued two alerts based on staff findings from recent examination initiatives. The first concerned advisers that offer automated digital investment services to their clients. The initiative was based on increases in the number of advisers operating, recommending or sponsoring discretionary robo-investment services. The targeted examination revealed widespread disclosure and supervisory deficiencies in these services. The second risk alert was a follow-up to previously issued guidance on fee-related deficiencies, compliance and disclosure issues. This new alert is based on a national exam initiative focusing on the calculation of advisory fees charged to retail clients and the adequacy of fee disclosures.

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SEC FY2021 Enforcement Division Recap: Regulators Tout Expanded Scope and Impacts, Including “First-of-Their-Kind” Prosecutions

11-23-21

SEC FY2021 Enforcement Division Recap: Regulators Tout Expanded Scope and Impacts, Including “First-of-Their-Kind” Prosecutions

In a tally of enforcement actions taken in Fiscal Year 2021 (which ended September 30th), the SEC reported that its efforts “spanned the entire securities waterfront” to address emerging threats. The agency touted many “first-of-their kind enforcement actions” and “record-breaking achievements.” Among the emerging areas of prosecutorial interest, the SEC highlighted enforcement actions involving crypto, decentralized finance, SPACs, the “dark web,” Form CRS compliance, and unregistered electronic trading. The agency also highlighted (and linked to) “impactful” prosecutions against a host of entities.

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NASAA Survey Reveals Some Firms Not Operating Under Reg BI One Year Later
NASAA President Melanie Senter Lubin (photo: NASAA.org)

11-18-21

NASAA Survey Reveals Some Firms Not Operating Under Reg BI One Year Later

How SEC Regulation Best Interest (“Reg BI”) became the prevailing federal standard for broker-dealer investment recommendations to clients is a long and complicated story. However, as of its June 30th, 2020 implementation date, Reg BI is the rule, which means that compliance with the rule’s requirements is mandatory and enforceable. In an unpleasant surprise for regulators and rule advocates, results from a recent NASAA reexamination initiative conclude that “broker-dealer firms still are not abiding by the Reg BI rule now in effect.” The report was greeted with strong industry reaction. In this article, Bates takes a look at what NASAA found and how it is being received.

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Join Bates in Miami for the IMTC World Conference, November 16-19, 2021

11-16-21

Join Bates in Miami for the IMTC World Conference, November 16-19, 2021

Join Bates Group at the IMTC World Conference 2021, the signature event of the Cross Border Transfers & Payments Industry, November 16-19, 2021. Online and in person at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Miami, FL. Bates Managing Director of AML Compliance Brandi B. Reynolds (CAMS-Audit, CCI, CCCE) is a featured speaker and instructor at this conference.

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New Crypto Regulation: Taxation and Oversight Underway, Stablecoins Gaining Support
Image © [Vitalii Vodolazskyi] /Adobe Stock

11-15-21

New Crypto Regulation: Taxation and Oversight Underway, Stablecoins Gaining Support

Government entities have begun in earnest to address concerns over the rapidly expanding crypto marketplace. Congress has passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets issued a substantial report on a framework for regulating stablecoins. These actions on taxation and oversight are the first real steps toward regulation of an industry that SEC Chair Gary Gensler only recently likened to the "Wild West." In this article, Bates takes a closer look at the soon-to-be-new law on digital asset taxation and the proposed regulations on stablecoins amid the broader debate on crypto regulation.

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ABA Women in Litigation Conference

11-10-21

ABA Women in Litigation Conference

Join Bates Group at the American Bar Association’s 2021 Women in Litigation Joint CLE Conference, November 17-19 at the Boston Park Plaza in Boston, MA. The conference features accomplished securities and insurance speakers, including Bates Affiliate Expert Sheila Murphy.

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DOL Extends Non-Enforcement Compliance Relief for Certain Prohibited Transaction Exemptions

11-04-21

DOL Extends Non-Enforcement Compliance Relief for Certain Prohibited Transaction Exemptions

In a Field Assistance Bulletin issued on October 25, 2021, the Department of Labor extended relief through Jan. 31, 2022 on a Prohibited Transaction Exemption (“PTE”), titled "Improving Investment Advice for Workers and Retirees.” The exemption is offered to registered investment advisers, broker dealers, financial institutions, and insurance companies that “provide fiduciary investment advice to Retirement Investors.”

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FINRA Warns Firms to Pay Attention to FinCEN AML Priorities

10-21-21

FINRA Warns Firms to Pay Attention to FinCEN AML Priorities

On October 8, 2021, FINRA urged member firms to review and update their Anti-Money Laundering compliance programs in light of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s recently published priorities on the subject. FinCEN came out with those priorities on June 30, 2021, in accordance with AML Act of 2020, which became law on January 1, 2021.

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Bates Group Response to COVID-19 (Updated)
Jennifer Stout

10-20-21

Bates Group Response to COVID-19 (Updated)

As the news and impact of COVID-19 continue to evolve, Bates Group continues to promote the health and safety of our employees, consultants, and clients, as well as ensure uninterrupted operations during this crisis. Read the letter from Bates CEO Jennifer Stout. 

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Climate Change-Related Risk: New SEC Guidance on Disclosures, Treasury’s FIO Evaluating Impact on Insurance

10-15-21

Climate Change-Related Risk: New SEC Guidance on Disclosures, Treasury’s FIO Evaluating Impact on Insurance

Remember 2010? Prince William and Kate got engaged. Tiger Woods apologized. BP Deepwater Horizon exploded. And Mark Zuckerberg was named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year.” Also in February 2010, the SEC issued guidance to public companies on climate change-related disclosure obligations. Fast forward over ten years later and on September 22, 2021, the SEC Division of Corporation Finance (“Division”) reminded issuers about complying with that 2010 guidance. 

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