As an outgrowth of FINRA’s retrospective rule review of its advertising rules, in Regulatory Notice 17-06 FINRA solicits comments on proposed amendments to FINRA Rule 2210 (Communications with the Public) to create an exception to the rule’s prohibition on projecting performance. The exception would permit a firm to distribute a customized hypothetical investment planning illustration that includes the projected performance of an asset allocation or other investment strategy subject to specified conditions. Comments on the proposal are due to FINRA by March 27th. The proposed exception would provide flexibility for depicting hypothetical performance of an asset allocation model or other investment strategy provided the projected performance does not depict any individual security.
All posts by Clifford E. Kirsch
SEC OCIE Alert on Adviser Exams: 5 Most Frequent Deficiencies
The SEC’s OCIE office released its 5 most frequent deficiencies identified in examinations of Investment Advisers. They include the Compliance Rule, Regulatory Filings, Custody Rule, Code of Ethics Rule, and Books and Records. According to the SEC staff, the Alert is based upon deficiencies cited from over 1,000 investment adviser exams over the past two years. The document is helpful to the adviser legal and compliance personnel, not necessarily because there are surprises in the deficiencies cited, but because there is good amount of detail as to each of the cited deficiencies and thereby serves as a roadmap to be incorporated into the adviser’s annual compliance review. View the Alert here: The Five Most Frequent Compliance T opics
OCIE Exam Reviews to Include Whistleblower Rule Compliance
Last week, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) issued a risk alert dealing with the whistleblower provisions arising out of the Dodd-Frank Act. While examining registered investment advisers and registered broker-dealers, the Staff is reviewing, among other things, compliance manuals, codes of ethics, employment agreements, and severance agreements to determine whether provisions in those documents pertaining to confidentiality of information and reporting of possible securities law violations may raise concerns under Rule 21F-17 under the Dodd-Frank Act. This review is included in examinations as staff deem appropriate. This exam focus follows several recent SEC enforcement actions charging violations of Rule 21F-17 of the Commission’s whistleblower regulations.
Read more here: National Exam Program Risk Alert: OCIE Examining Whistleblower Rule Compliance
SEC’s Buddy Donohue outlines future compliance challenges
SEC Chief of Staff, Buddy Donohue’s speech at the National Society of Compliance Professionals’ 2016 National Conference.
OCIE’s Marc Wyatt Shares Thoughts on National Exam Program
SEC OCIE Director, Marc Wyatt, delivered the keynote address at the National Society of Compliance Professionals’ 2016 National Conference.
https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/inside-the-national-exam-program-in-2016.html.