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Top RIA Compliance News Articles for the Week of October 17, 2015

Oct 23, 2015

Our list of the top registered investment adviser (RIA) compliance and regulatory news articles for the week of October 17, 2015.

Each week we’re giving you our weekly report highlighting the top compliance news articles from various industry news publications. We have selected the most relevant and important news articles related to registered investment adviser (RIA) compliance and regulatory issues. Check back each week for the latest list of top stories.

Here’s our top investment adviser compliance articles for the week of October 17, 2015:

  1. SEC cracks down on advisers’ access to clients’ outside accounts (Author- Mark Schoeff Jr., InvestmentNews)

Advisors that manage their clients outside accounts need to ensure they are not violating custody regulations. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is making sure that investment advisory fims can prove that they are not able to take distributions from an account if they have not disclosed custody of the account. Mark Schoeff explains how the SEC continues to put more of a focus on custody issues.

  1. Advisers missing major wrinkle in DOL’s fiduciary rule (Author- Dale Brown, InvestmentNews)

Dale Brown argues that a common misconception by registered investment advisors (RIA) regarding the fiduciary rule, is that it will have little impact them because they already follow the fiduciary standard. With the new fiduciary rule from the Department of Labor (DOL), Brown notes that advisors will be forced to comply with not only the SEC, but the DOL as well. Brown breaks down exactly how RIAs will be affected, for better or for worse.

  1. SEC files record number of enforcement cases and highest fines in 2015 (Author- Liz Skinner, InvestmentNews)

801 enforcement actions were filed by the SEC as of September 30th, which is a record high for the agency. Mary Jo White of the SEC stated that “vigorous and comprehensive enforcement protects investors” and claims that the increase of cases filed is due to better use of data and analytics. Liz Skinner gives us the details of the SEC report.

  1. Pension trade group believes DOL fiduciary rule is all but inevitable (Author- Mark Schoeff Jr., InvestmentNews)

Now that it is looking more like the ultimate passing of the fiduciary rule may be inevitable, many groups are doing their best to modify the rule. The American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA) stated that they are not trying to block the rule, only improve it and elongate the transition period. Mark Schoeff reports the ASPPA’s trip to Capitol Hill.

  1. S.E.C. Releases Data on Fund Advisers (Author- Liz Moyer, The New York Times)

Last week, the SEC released statistics on more the 2,600 private fund advisors, which included information from regulatory filings. This data, which is been shared publicly online, will make it easier for investors to evaluate potential advisors. Liz Moyer reports on the findings from the data and in what capacity these statistics are being used.

  1. Is your advisor prepared to handle cyberattacks? (Author- Deborah Nason, CNBC)

Cybersecurity policies and procedure are of the utmost important in the financial advisory industry. With today’s advancing technology such as account aggregation and cloud storage, it is easier than ever for cyber criminals to attack. Deborah Nason shares advice from other advisory firms regarding effective ways to avoid data breaches.

Be sure to check back next Friday for next week’s top articles!