On July 13, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) published an order instituting administrative cease-and-desist proceedings against TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC (“TIAA”). TIAA consented to this order without admitting or denying the findings except as to jurisdiction and subjection matter. The SEC’s order alleges TIAA failed to…
Over the last five years, cybersecurity has consistently been a top priority of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). We have written about the SEC’s focus on cybersecurity in July 2020 and January 2020. With an additional enforcement action in June, the SEC is continuing to signal that firms regulated…
In late May, FINRA issued a press release announcing the temporary withdrawal of proposed rule changes regarding the process for obtaining expungement of customer dispute information maintained for registered representatives on WebCRD, or “BrokerCheck.” The proposed rule changes were issued in 2017 for possible SEC approval and have previously been…
Rule 206(4)-1 under the Investment Advisers Act, known as the “Marketing Rule,” becomes effective on May 4, 2021. Full details of the new rule and the related amendments to the Books and Records Rule and for ADV can be reviewed in the SEC’s adopting release. The new rule changes many aspects…
Earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced the examination priorities for registered investment adviser and broker-dealer examinations to be conducted in 2021 by the SEC’s Division of Examinations (formerly the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations). The list included a continued focus on conflicts of interest, including examining…
Even before Robinhood Financial LLC entered the spotlight late last month for having halted trading in Game Stop during that company’s unprecedented short squeeze, Robinhood had already been charged with allegedly violating state securities laws in connection with its business practices. In December of last year, the Securities Division of…
Last month, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that it has finalized the new “fiduciary rule” proposed during the Trump administration, creating a new exemption to the fiduciary standards that investment advisers must comply with when servicing ERISA accounts and IRAs Specifically, the new rule – Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2002-02…
Late last year, the SEC announced the settlement of five enforcement cases against RIA firms relating to their recommendations and purchases of complex exchange-traded products (ETPs) in clients’ accounts. The settlements – against Benjamin F. Edwards & Co., Royal Alliance Associates, Inc., Securities America Advisors, Inc, Summit Financial Group, Inc.,…
Late last year, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), now known as the Division of Examinations, issued a compliance risk alert warning investment advisers to ensure that their compliance programs are uniform and are uniformly applied across all branch office locations. The alert summarized the findings from…
We don’t typically venture into politics in the RIA Compliance Blog except to explain or predict regulatory trends, and this post is no exception. But something happened recently in the political realm that made me want to explain to non-Georgia natives how much we native Georgians really love our state.…