There have been tons of cases where firms got in trouble – in AML trouble, which is one the worst kinds of trouble – for failing to be sufficiently on top of third-party wires, i.e., where a customer wires money not to himself but to someone else. In a change of pace, last week, the
Supervision
SEC Settlement Is A Wake-Up Call To Review Outdated Procedures
By Alan Wolper on
Most securities regulations, by design, create a gray world where compliance is not crystal-clear, but, rather, subject to interpretation. After all, what you think constitutes “reasonable” supervision and what FINRA or the SEC think is reasonable may very well be two extremely different things. Indeed, it is the existence of subjective standards of conduct like…
Credit Suisse Runs Into Trouble Trying To Monitor Outside Brokerage Accounts, Despite Its Best Intentions
By Alan Wolper on
I am back from Spring Break — spent here, in my home, of course — and I hope that you all had a nice Easter or Passover, or whatever. Good to be back. – Alan
Sometimes, the numbers that FINRA cites in its settlements with big broker-dealers are so ridiculously large that it’s nearly impossible…
If You Supervise Yourself — Which You Cannot Do — Make Sure You Do It Right
By Alan Wolper on
I have always operated with the understanding that, per FINRA rules, one cannot supervise him- or herself. Hardly an outrageous proposition. Today, however, that fundamental, bedrock understanding was so shaken, it has left me wondering whether anything is what it seems (especially when coupled with Loyola’s win this weekend over Illinois, which, really, can only…
SEC Settlement Proves That When CCOs Spot A Problem, Silence Is Not Golden
By Alan Wolper on
FYI, in February, Ulmer & Berne will be hosting a series of webinars on the following: FINRA Expungement: Rule Changes and Updates on Tuesday, February 9 2:00 PM EST; SEC Update: Reg BI, Enforcement Activity, and the Willfulness Standard on Thursday, February 11, 2021 at 2:00 PM EST; Data Protection & Cybersecurity Challenges for Financial …
LPL AWC Proves, Once Again, That Big Firms Can Buy Their Way Out Of Trouble That Would Kill Small Firms
By Alan Wolper on
LPL may be the biggest BD in the country, with 21,500 reps operating out of almost 13,000 branch offices. Heaven knows how much money it brings in every year, but, goodness, it must be a lot. And good thing, too, given how much the firm keeps paying to FINRA in fines for its serial, repeated,…
Another Fine Churning Mess
By Alan Wolper on
I apologize for taking so long between posts, but, to be fair, there’s been a lot going on in the past week or so that has captured my attention! I wish everyone a happy and SAFE new year! – Alan
While undoubtedly FINRA will be issuing its annual “examination priorities” letter any day now, that…
The SEC’s New Marketing Rule: Bringing Investment Adviser Advertising From The “Mad Men” Era To The Amazon Age
By Alan Wolper on
Posted in Advertising, SEC
Happy Holidays, everyone! Since you’re all just sitting home with plenty of time on your hands, it is the perfect opportunity to enjoy this post from my colleague Denise Fesdjian, about the SEC’s new marketing rule for RIAs. – Alan
“The SEC score(s) one for the digital age.” These are the words of SEC Commissioner…
Let’s Hear It For CCOs; After All, They Are Human People
By Alan Wolper on
We have frequently blogged here about the degree of attention that regulators pay to Chief Compliance Officers, and whether it is proper that they sometimes are named individually in Enforcement actions. And we are hardly the only ones who see this issue. The New York City Bar back in February – I know, that seems…
How NOT To Supervise For Churning
By Alan Wolper on
As should be clear to readers of this Blog, I find that Enforcement actions often provide the best guidance in terms of what regulators deem to be unacceptable conduct, which is very useful when dealing with subjective standards like “reasonableness.” This past week, FINRA published an AWC submitted by Coastal Equities, Inc. that offers a…