On April 11, 2017, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) issued Regulatory Notice 17-16 proposing a safe harbor exemption from many of the research rules for certain desk commentary. Firms may also decide that other desk commentary outside the proposal is not research, but if the desk commentary fits within the safe harbor it will be… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Broker-Dealers
New “Special Study” of the Securities Market by Columbia Law and Business Schools
Columbia University Law and Business Schools announced that they will jointly carry out a new “Special Study” of the U.S. securities markets under a grant from the NASDAQ Educational Foundation. The prior “Special Study” was published in 1963, and resulted in a number of significant changes in securities regulation, so there is some interest in… Read more »
Giancarlo Suggests Overhaul of CFTC
President Trump’s nominee for the permanent head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”), J. Christopher Giancarlo, is a Republican and acting head of the CFTC. In a well-received and widely reported speech yesterday to an industry conference, Mr. Giancarlo said he would fix the “flawed” swaps trading rules. He also pledged to streamline the CFTC… Read more »
UK FCA and PRA Amend Enforcement Procedures
In February 2017, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) and the Prudential Regulation Authority issued a joint policy statement (the “Statement”) regarding enforcement, following up on their April 2016 consultation paper. The Statement announces changes to the Decision Procedure and Penalties Manual (the “DEPP”) and the Enforcement Guide (the “EG”). While there are a… Read more »
SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations Publishes 2017 Priorities
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (the “OCIE”) has published it 2017 exam priorities. These include (i) matters important to retail investors, (ii) risks to elderly and retiring investors and (iii) market-wide risks. In terms of the latter, the OCIE will focus on: (i) compliance with the 2014 amendments to… Read more »
FINRA Exam Priorities for 2017
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) issued a letter setting forth its exam priorities for 2017. These include a focus on implementation of Regulatory Notice 15-46 on Best Execution, and exhorting firms to consider the continuing automation of the markets for equity securities and standardized options, and recent advances in trading technology and communications in the fixed… Read more »
DOL Issues FAQ’s on New Fiduciary Rule Explaining, Inter Alia, Acceptable Compensation
The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued the first FAQ’s on its new rule requiring advisers giving advice on ERISA and similar plans to act as fiduciaries for the investors and in the best interest of investors rather than the firms for which they work. See FAQs, here. The new fiduciary rules are not scheduled to go… Read more »
SEC Issues Risk Warning on Whistleblowing
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations issued a Risk Alert on October 24, 2016, regarding the staff’s examination of broker-dealers for compliance with the Dodd-Frank whistleblower provisions. The warning notes that the staff will review compliance manuals, codes of ethics, employment agreements and severance agreements, among others, to see whether… Read more »
SEC Proposes Reducing Settlement by One Day to T+2
The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has proposed to amend its Rule 15c6-1(a) to require broker-dealers to settle most non-exempt securities in T+2 instead of T+3, although shorter settlement is possible. See proposal, here. Comments are due by December 5, 2016. There seems to be little opposition to the basic shortening, which comes some… Read more »
FINRA to Require TRACE Reports on Treasury Transactions
The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has approved the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (“FINRA”) plan to require, as of July 10, 2017, the reporting by FINRA member firms of transactions in U.S. Treasuries to the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (“TRACE”). See FINRA Regulatory Notice 16-39, October 2016, here. The rules will apply to… Read more »