How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Learned to Love Form ADV

After last year’s material amendments to the Form ADV, investment advisers can breathe a sigh of relief; the SEC made no changes to the form this year. That said, completing the Form ADV remains a major data-gathering project with important regulatory implications. So, take a few deep cleansing breaths and read our tips for completing your annual update.

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New BD IA Fiduciary Rules Proposed by Nevada

On January 18th, Nevada’s Office of the Secretary of State, Securities Division, released draft regulations pursuant to the amended Nevada financial planner statute.  The proposed new fiduciary rules are open for comment until March 5th.

This Morgan Lewis LawFlash outlines the key provisions in Nevada’s draft regulation and discusses, among other topics, when the regulation would be effective, when fiduciary duty would apply, and what conduct would be considered a fiduciary breach under the proposal.

OCIE and FINRA Set Exam Priorities, FINRA Issues Cybersecurity Tips, and SEC Finds More Undisclosed Conflicts

February Regulatory Updates from Jaqueline Hummel at Hardin Compliance Consulting LLC.

Topics include:

Read the full post here

Write the Best Annual Compliance Program Review EVER!

Many chief compliance officers struggle every year with preparing the annual review and, based on the OCIE’s summary of the most frequently identified exam deficiencies; some are not up to the task.  To help you out, Jaqueline Hummel and Hardin Compliance Consulting LLC suggest the following:

The review should answer these questions:

  • Were recommendations from the prior year’s annual review implemented?
  • Were the firm’s compliance policies and procedures adequate and followed consistently?
  • Are there any operational or compliance risks or weaknesses that need to be addressed?
  • Should any changes be made to the firm’s policies and procedures?

Here’s a basic outline for the report:

  1. Background
  2. Overview of the review process
  3. Identify the Principal Risks addressed through Compliance Policies and Procedures
  4. Business, Industry and Regulatory Developments
  5. Evaluation of the Adequacy and Effectiveness of Compliance Policies and Procedures, and Recommendations

Read her full post here