Category Archives: Enforcement

Compliance, Enforcement, Regulatory, Standard of Care

A Record-Breaking Year for FINRA in 2016; What May Come in 2017?

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2016 will be remembered as an historic year: the Olympics, the Chicago-Cleveland World Series, and the presidential election. In the regulatory world of FINRA, there was also an historic year as FINRA continued its trend of ordering significant fines, shattering its
previous record set in 2014. If firms and their representatives were not paying attention to this trend, they should be now. Although some have speculated about a reduction in the SEC’s Enforcement program with the new administration, FINRA shows no signs of slowing down. By analyzing FINRA’s 2016 sanctions and cases, including the issues that resulted in the most significant fines and emerging enforcement trends, what predictions can we make about key issues for FINRA for 2017 and beyond?

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Additional contributor to this post:

Brian L. Rubin, brianrubin@eversheds-sutherland.com

Compliance, Enforcement, Regulatory

FINRA Holds Regulator Forum on Distributed Ledger Technology

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FINRA recently held a Blockchain Symposium which included a Regulator Forum with representatives from FINRA, OCC, CFTC, the Federal Reserve  and the SEC.  The regulators discussed the work they have undertaken to assess the use of DLT in the financial services industry, and the regulatory considerations associated with potential uses of DLT. The Symposium follows FINRA’s publication of a report earlier this year discussing the implications of DLT for the securities industry and soliciting comments from market participants.

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Additional contributor to this post:

Issa J. Hanna,  issahanna@eversheds-sutherland.com

Enforcement, Regulatory, Standard of Care

Senior Investors Focus of New “Principal Consideration” in FINRA Sanctions

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Last month, FINRA’s National Adjudicatory Council (NAC) introduced new Sanction Guidelines which allow the NAC and FINRA staff to take into consideration the “undue influence” of registered individuals over vulnerable customers in determining appropriate sanction levels. The last update to the Guidelines occurred approximately two years ago, and included changes related to unsuitable recommendations and misrepresentations. Last month’s changes to the Guidelines provide for the first time a “principal consideration that analyzes whether a respondent has exercised undue influence over a customer.” Now listed as a specific factor for adjudicators and FINRA staff to consider in determining appropriate sanctions is  “[w]hether the respondent exercised undue influence over the customer.”

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Additional contributors to this post:

Bruce M. Bettigole, brucebettigole@eversheds-sutherland.com

Sarah Razaq Sallis, sarahsallis@eversheds-sutherland.com

Compliance, Enforcement, Standard of Care

Caveat Compliance: Can Firms Rely on Advice Received from Compliance Consultants?

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Broker-dealers (BDs) and investment advisers (IAs) regularly hire compliance consultants to obtain advice about regulatory requirements. A recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) enforcement proceeding against an investment adviser (IA) calls into question whether firms may rely on compliance consultants as a defense to violating the law.  However, if firms take proper steps, BDs and IAs may still be able to retain consultants and defend themselves based on the advice they receive. Otherwise, “caveat emptor” (as the saying goes) or “caveat compliance” (as the SEC seems to be saying).

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Additional contributors to this post:

Brian L. Rubin, brianrubin@eversheds-sutherland.com

Rebekah R. Runyon, rebekahrunyon@eversheds-sutherland.com

Compliance, Enforcement, Standard of Care

DOL Provides Temporary Enforcement Relief on Fiduciary Rule

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The DOL issued a Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB 2017-01) on Friday, March 10, 2017 to address near-term compliance concerns relating to a proposed 60-day delay of the Fiduciary Rule. As previously reported, the DOL issued a proposal on March 2, 2017 to delay the April 10, 2017 implementation date of the Fiduciary Rule by 60 days. This 60-day delay is not yet final, however, and there has been confusion over what will happen if a decision on the delay is not made until after April 10 or if a decision is made too close to the implementation date to allow time for compliance. Although the DOL has stated that it intends to issue its decision before April 10, it issued the Bulletin to announce a temporary enforcement policy which provides certain limited enforcement relief.

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