Category Archives: Compliance Program
Registered investment adviser may soon be required to monitor client accounts for money laundering activities. James Freis, the director of the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), recently announced that FinCEN and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) are working together to finalize anti-money laundering regulations that would apply to investment advisers. The [...]
For many registered investment advisers, the task of determining ongoing compliance requirements can seem overwhelming. Carrying out an investment adviser’s ongoing compliance duties can be a very manageable process if the investment adviser is aware of its requirements and organizes and assigns responsibilities for the various compliance functions. A compliance calendar can be a valuable [...]
Posted by Bryan Hill
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Earlier this year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted Rule 203A-5 to implement changes to SEC registration criteria, including increasing the assets under management threshold for SEC registration from $25 million to $100 million. In order to convert to the new standards for SEC registration, the SEC is requiring all investment advisor firms [...]
Posted by Bryan Hill
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
A recent FINRA enforcement action highlights the need for broker dealers and investment advisers to implement policies and procedures for social media use. FINRA alleged the registered representative created websites related to her firm without obtaining firm approval, on several occasions she falsely stated online that she was not affiliated with any broker dealer, and [...]
With the upcoming regulatory switch of mid-sized investment advisers from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to state securities regulators and Congress considering whether to authorize a self-regulatory organization (“SRO”) for investment advisers, we believe that the frequency of investment adviser examinations is going to rise. During a regulatory exam, your investment adviser firm [...]
Posted by Bryan Hill
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
The best approach for an investment adviser firm to prepare for a regulatory examination begins with ongoing compliance training. A report released by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC) on February 2011, stated “In most cases, the staff considers the quality of the [investment adviser’s] compliance systems and its internal control environment when determining [...]
Posted by Bryan Hill
Friday, September 9, 2011
Your investment adviser’s chief compliance officer (“CCO”) must be knowledgeable regarding the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, competent in regard to administering your compliance program and empowered to enforce compliance with your policies and procedures. Your investment adviser’s CCO is responsible for administering your investment advisers’ policies and procedures. This does not necessarily mean that [...]
When establishing a compliance program, an investment adviser is required to review and monitor the personal securities transactions by “access persons” in order to prevent inappropriate trading. In order to supervise personal securities transactions, the first question is determining which individuals are access persons. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) defines an “access person” [...]
Today, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its July 2008 ComplianceAlert letter which identifies and describes common deficiencies and weaknesses that SEC examiners have found during compliance examinations of SEC registered investment advisers/mutual funds, broker-dealers, and transfer agents. The release, which is considered official comment from the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and [...]
With the end of first quarter 2008, RIA Compliance Consultants would like to remind SEC registered investment advisors of their requirement to collect or prepare updated personal securities transaction reports from all access persons. The information on the reports must reflect transactions that took place during first quarter of 2008 and must officially be reported [...]
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