Category Archive for: Compliance

DOJ and SEC Issue Guide to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

The Department of Justice and the SEC have jointly issued a guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. (USFCPA)  For the uninitiated, there is a nice explanation of both DOJ and SEC resolutions beginning at page 74. Fenwick & West LLP has a good summary, which can be found here.

Finra Incorporates Social Media in New Communications Rules

Finra Notice to Members 12-29, announced the SEC approval of far reaching updates to previous NASD and NYSE communications rules.  (NTM 12-29)  The new rules will be numbered 2210 and 2212-16 and will be collectively referred to as the “Communication Rules”.  These new rules will incorporate and replace the following rules: Finra rules: 2210, 2211,…

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Finra Reflects on the SRO Model

Finra Executive Vice President, Thomas M. Selman, spoke at the Investment Program Association Fall Conference on November 15, 2012 and made some interesting comments.  (IPAFC)  I have extracted some of the better parts below. Here’s another pitch for Finra (and not the SEC) to regulate Investment Advisors: Despite the longstanding faith in the SRO model,…

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Finra Statement to the Senate on Protecting Senior Investors

Gerri Walsh, President of the Finra Investors Education Foundation, and Vice President of Finra Investor Education, made a Statement for the Record at a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging.  (Finra) In this statement, Walsh reiterated Finra’s commitment and efforts to protect senior investors.  I have excerpted some of the text below: How…

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SEC Report on Examination of Ratings Agencies

The SEC has issued its 2012 Summary Report of Commission Staff’s Examinations of Each Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization.  (SEC)  This is more of what is coming out of Dodd-Frank.  In particular: In July 2010, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), which, among other things, amended Section…

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Shale Gas Bubble Evidence Continues to Grow

Geological consultant and energy expert, Arthur Berman, has an interview with Oilprice.com with some frightening observations.  (Oilprice)  The most sobering may be the following: A lot of investors from other parts of the world, particularly the oil-rich parts have been making somewhat high-risk investments in the United States for many years and, for a long…

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Finra Guidance on Investment Advisor Arbitration

Finra has published guidance for Investment Advisors at non-member firms who wish to utilize the Finra Dispute Resolutions platform.  (Finra)  You can see our previous coverage of this here.  The full text is below: FINRA Dispute Resolution has received inquiries from lawyers who represent investors and those who represent investment advisers (IAs) which are not…

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SEC Joins Finra in Hurricane Sandy Regulatory Relief

The SEC has joined Finra in offering regulatory relief to entities affected by Hurricane Sandy.  (SEC) See our coverage of the Finra relief efforts here and here.

Finra Offers Regulatory Relief in Sandy Aftermath

While Finra’s One Liberty Plaza office in downtown Manhattan remains closed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the Self-Regulatory Organization is offering regulatory relief to member firms affected by the hurricane. Finra just issued NTM 12-45 “Regulatory Relief” explaining their efforts.  (12-45)  The executive summary states: Due to the impact from Hurricane Sandy, FINRA is…

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Finra Business Continuity Compliance

In the better-late-than-never file, Finra is reminding members of their obligations for business continuity plans.  (Finra) Finra Rule 4370 covers these requirements.  (4370)  Here’s the overview: (a) Each member must create and maintain a written business continuity plan identifying procedures relating to an emergency or significant business disruption. Such procedures must be reasonably designed to…

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