On September 19, 2022, the SEC’s Division of Examination issued a Risk Alert concerning the new investment adviser marketing rule, Advisors Act Rule 206(4)-1 (“the Marketing Rule”). In connection with the Marketing Rule, the Commission also amended the Books and Records Rule, Advisors Act Rule 204-2 and the Form ADV. The Marketing Rule became effective…
Continue reading ›On September 6, 2022, the SEC issued an order instituting administrative and cease-and-desist proceedings against Perceptive Advisors LLC (“Perceptive”) a New York based investment adviser. In anticipation of the institution of the proceedings, Perceptive and the SEC entered into a Settlement. Perceptive provides investment advisory advice to pooled investment vehicles and according to its March…
Continue reading ›On August 23, 2022, FINRA published an AWC reflecting a settlement with ViewTrade Securities, Inc. The AWC alleges that ViewTrade failed to establish and implement written AML policies and procedures that could reasonably detect and cause the reporting of suspicious transactions in violation of FINRA Rule 3310. FINRA Rule 3310 requires that each member firm…
Continue reading ›FINRA recently released Regulatory Notice 22-18, reminding firms about their obligation to supervise registered representatives to prevent falsification of digital signatures. FINRA’s guidance comes on the heels of multiple investigations concerning instances when registered representatives forged or falsified client signatures on account transfer documentation or on disclosure forms, “acknowledging a products alignment with the customer’s…
Continue reading ›What is a securities dealer? The answer is more complicated than people might think. On August 2, 2022, the SEC announced that it had reached a settlement with a Long Island firm, Crown Bridge Partners, LLC (“Crown Bridge”) and the two brothers who owned the firm Soheil and Sepas Ahdoot, for failing to register as…
Continue reading ›On July 15, 2022, FINRA filed Regulatory Notice 22-15 and announced the amendment of its Code of Arbitration for Industry Disputes to conform to the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, Pub. L. No. 117-90, 136 Stat. 26 (2022). The amendments permit person with claims of sexual assault or…
Continue reading ›Practitioners are familiar with the fact that a failure to respond to a FINRA Rule 8210 request almost automatically results in an industry bar. Except when it doesn’t. The Office of Hearing Officers (the “OHO”) recently published a decision in which it discussed what the Hearing Officer referred to as a “partial but incomplete response”…
Continue reading ›On July 7, 2022, FINRA’s Office of Hearing Officers issued its decision in Dep’t of Enforcement v. Burford, Discip. Proc. No. 2019064656601 (OHO July 7, 2022). Here, the Hearing Panel found that Burford caused no customer harm. There was no evidence that Burford gained monetarily from his actions. Burford was “polite, respectful, and cooperative” throughout…
Continue reading ›In April 2018, the SEC proposed a new regulation that would govern the standard of conduct that applies when broker-dealers make recommendations to retail customers. Specifically, the proposal sought to established an express best interest obligation that would require all broker-dealers and associated persons to act in the best interests of their retail customers at…
Continue reading ›Since 1972 the Securities & Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has maintained a rule that imposes a gag order on settling defendants in civil enforcement actions. In 2003, Barry D. Romeril, CFO for Xerox, entered into a consent agreement with the SEC that included the following language: “Defendant understands and agrees to comply with the [SEC]’s…
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