January 9, 2018
FINRA Announces its 2018 Regulatory and Examination Priorities
On January 8, 2018, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) published its 2018 Regulatory and Examination Priorities Letter to highlight areas of focus for FINRA’s upcoming examinations of registered broker-dealers. Significant areas of focus include financial technology innovations, including cybersecurity and supervision of transactions involving cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings…
October 26, 2017
SEC STAFF RELEASES GUIDANCE FOR U.S. MARKET PARTICIPANTS REGARDING U.S. REGULATED ACTIVITIES AND COMPLIANCE WITH MIFID II
The U.S. regulatory framework has presented challenges to market participants that must also structure their practices to comply with the implementation of Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Directive 2002/92/EC and Directive 2011/61/EU ("MiFID II"), which takes effect on January 3, 2018. On October 26, 2017, the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued three related no-action letters that are designed to provide market participants with greater certainty regarding their U.S. regulated activities as they engage in efforts to comply with the MiFID II.
May 16, 2017
FINRA Reviews Rules on Outside Business Activities and Private Securities Transactions
On May 15, 2017, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 17-20 (RN-17-20) to request comment on the effectiveness and efficiency of its rules on outside business activities (OBA) and private securities transactions as part of a new retrospective rule review. RN-17-20 outlines the general retrospective rule review process and seeks responses to…
March 30, 2017
FINRA PROPOSES CHANGE TO THE PRIVATE PLACEMENT FILER FORM
On March 28, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change, by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), relating to the Private Placement Filer Form (the “Filer Form”). SEC Release No. 34-80321.
March 28, 2017
Client Alert: SEC Adopts T+2 Settlement Cycle for Securities Transactions
On March 22, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted an amendment to Rule 15c6-1(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”), shortening the standard settlement cycle (i.e., the length of time between trade execution and delivery of cash and securities to the seller and buyer) for…
September 30, 2016
SEC Proposes to Shorten Securities Settlement Cycle
During an Open Meeting on September 28, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) proposed a rule amendment to expedite the process for settling securities transactions.
May 27, 2016
FINRA Proposes Immediately Effective Clarifications to the Debt Research Rule
FINRA proposed amendments (SR-FINRA-2016-017) to the debt research rule (FINRA Rule 2242 – Debt Research Analysts and Debt Research Reports), which addresses conflicts of interest relating to the publication and distribution of debt research reports. The proposed amendments clarify the application of the rule in four respects: (1) The consent requirement for institutional debt research reports distributed to non-U.S. investors by non-U.S. affiliates of broker-dealers; (2) The consent requirement for institutional debt research reports distributed to specified persons for informational purposes unrelated to investing in debt securities; (3) The scope of the institutional debt research report exemption when distributing third-party debt research reports to eligible institutional investors; and (4) The disclosure requirements for debt research analysts in public appearances.
July 27, 2015
FINRA Comments on DOL Proposed Conflict of Interest Rule and Related Proposals
On July 17, 2015, FINRA submitted comments on the DOL’s April 14, 2015 proposals, which included amendments to the definition of “fiduciary,” a proposed best interest contract exemption, and a proposed exemption for principal transactions in certain debt securities. FINRA’s comments support the implementation of a best interest standard for…
July 20, 2015
FINRA Requests Comment on a Revised Proposal to Adopt a Consolidated FINRA Rule Regarding Discretionary Accounts and Transactions
On June 17, 2015, FINRA issued a request for comment on a revised proposal to adopt a new FINRA Rule 3260 for Discretionary Accounts and Transactions by Persons other Than the Customer. The accompanying Regulatory Notice 15-22 proposes to revise and consolidate NASD Rule 2510 and Incorporated NYSE Rule 408…
July 20, 2015
FINRA Issues Notice of Cyber Attacks on Member Firms
On June 19, 2015 FINRA issued an Information Notice on recent Distributed Denial of Service (“DDoS”) attacks by DD4BC, a cyber-criminal group. According to FINRA, DD4BC appears to be targeting financial services and broker-dealer firms that have an online presence. A DDoS attack will overwhelm a website or network with…