On May 18, the SEC overturned a seminal settlement policy that has stood for over 50 years: remaining silent in settlement (otherwise known as the “gag rule”).
Previously, Rule 202.5(e) adopted the SEC’s policy that a civil lawsuit or administrative proceeding defendant could not consent to an order settling a matter while also denying the
In our last episode Don’t Panic, Josh walked through how to respond to an initial examination letter, including a handy checklist of items that roboadvisors should always have in good order. But what if your existing practices don’t cover all the examination letter requests? Do not fret. No examiner is expecting perfection. More important
For nearly a decade now, regulators have placed the Chief Compliance Officer (“CCO”) squarely within the sights of enforcement, on the logic that holding CCO’s individually liable for violations would prompt robust compliance programs, and deter lackluster supervision. The reasonableness of such assumptions is a topic for a different post. However, despite these drastically raised the stakes
We continue our discussion of the SEC’s Division of Examinations’ (EXAMS) 2021 Priorities (see here) with an overview of information security and operational resiliency. The daily drumbeat of cyber-intrusion incidents is certain to keep cybersecurity at the top of EXAMS’ focus.
In light of the pandemic forcing a shift to remote work,
Our recent posts have walked you through the SEC’s new marketing rule and discussed valuation and fee assessment. Now, with the ADV season, hopefully, in your rear-view mirror, we turn your attention to planning for the remainder of the year. Determining the most efficient use of a compliance department’s time and resources is essential. Fortunately,
Today we continue our discussion of the SEC’s recent changes to the Advertising Rule. In our last post, Josh covered the general definitional changes and prohibitions. In this entry, we will highlight the new Advertising Rule’s impact on performance advertising.
As we have discussed, the amended rule consolidates and supersedes former rules 206(4)-1 and
By Marc B. Minor
Investment advisers, rightly, focus much of their attention on satisfying their fiduciary duty through careful investment recommendations. However, advisers’ duties also include ensuring that client cash and securities are transferred for investment, and held, safely by the custodian of those assets.
For robo-advisers, client onboarding, facilitating the transfer of funds and
Our blog recently discussed how soft dollar arrangements can impact the bottom line for both advisers and investors, and therefore require adequate disclosure. Other compliance requirements involve non-client facing operations, but are equally important to monitoring and protecting against conflicts of interest. The Personal Trading Policy is one such requirement.
The Investment Advisers Act and