On April 15, 2017, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) published Regulatory Notice 17-15, seeking comments on its proposed revisions to FINRA Rule 5110, which prohibits broker-dealers from being involved in unfair underwritings. The changes are, according to FINRA, designed to modernize the rule, first adopted in 1992 and updated last in 2004. The changes… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Financial Institutions
FINRA Proposes to Restructure Exams
On April 7, 2017, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) published in the Federal Register its proposal (the “Proposal”), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 8, that would consolidate registration rules, restructure the representative-level qualification examination and amend continuing education requirements. Among other things, the Proposal would create a new exam, the Securities Industry Essentials… Read more »
FINRA Issues Proposed Safe Harbor Exemption for Desk Commentary
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 »
U.K. Further Implements MIFID II
In March, the U.K. issued the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Order 2017 (2017/488) (the “Order 1”) and the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2017 (2017/500) (the “Order 2”), implementing part of MIFID II. which is the European Union’s update of regulation of the financial services… 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 »
NY Department of Financial Services Publishes Revised Cybersecurity Rules
As reported previously, the NY Department of Financial Services (the “NYDFS”) published proposed comprehensive cybersecurity rules that would apply to financial institutions holding a state license. On December 28, 2016, the NYDFS published revised rules, taking into account some, but not all, of the objections to the original rules. The new rules have a 30… Read more »
OCC Proposes to Issue Special Purpose National Bank Licenses for FinTechs
On December 2, 2016, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”), which licenses and regulates in part National Banks, issued a white paper, and Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry spoke, on voluntary licensing as “Special Purpose National Banks” certain FinTech companies that meet OCC requirements. “FinTech” is usually defined as financial technology firms that use… Read more »