AML

FINRA is often accused (mostly rightfully, and certainly by me) of being a horse-is-already-out-of-the-barn sort of regulator, jumping on an issue only after the problem has already arisen and made it to the front page of the Wall Street Journal.  But, that’s not always the case.  Indeed, there are occasions when FINRA is out ahead

Right after I posted this, FINRA announced a third AML settlement, this time with Interactive Brokers.  It was no small deal: it came with a $15 million fine and an obligation to retain an independent consultant.  (In addition to the FINRA AWC, Interactive simultaneously entered into settlements with the SEC — with another $11.5

In this post, Michael Gross complains — and rightly so — about the lack of any definitive guidance from FINRA regarding the appropriate range of fines to be imposed for AML violations.  The bigger issue, however, at least in my view, is not necessarily the lack of guidance, but the fact that the fines FINRA

If you’re reading this, then you undoubtedly already know that FINRA and SEC are, simply, AML crazy. Rightly or wrongly, they are both focusing more than ever on broker-dealers’ fulfillment of their supervisory obligation to be sensitive to the laundry list of red flags first articulated in a Notice to Members back in 2002 that

The Rick Ketchum Show. Today’s sessions opened with what was likely the highlight of the entire conference, Rick Ketchum’s swan song “conversation” with Ira Hammerman, GC of SIFMA, before he toddles off into retirement. Granted, these interviews never remotely approach Sixty Minutes intensity, but this year’s featured even more coddling than ever:

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