While we might not have a crystal ball, we certainly know the year ahead will bring with it new challenges, regulatory scrutiny, and compliance conundrums.
To help you navigate the network of rules and requirements, we’ve aggregated some of our most popular guides to help you achieve compliance with confidence.
Gifts & Entertainment Compliance: What Financial Professionals Need To Know
Giving and receiving gifts is a core aspect of doing business for many companies, as a way to show appreciation for partnerships, work, and ongoing joint success.
For advisers looking to maintain positive relationships with clients, prospects, and professionals within their network, having a gift be declined can be perceived as a slight.
However, in today’s highly regulated environment, your firm needs to implement a comprehensive gifts and entertainment policy that protects against potential conflicts of interest to ensure accepting a gift won’t result in regulatory ramifications.
Let’s take a look at what today’s gifts and entertainment regulations include and the best practices for keeping your firm operating compliantly this gift giving season and beyond.
How to Prepare for Upcoming SEC Exams
Fact: Investment advisers are required to conduct a review of their compliance Policies and Procedures annually, according to Rule 206(4)-7. Doing so helps ensure each firm’s program is operating adequately and effectively as determined by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
However, should your firm be preparing for an SEC examination, you may find it necessary (and helpful) to thoroughly review your compliance program by conducting an internal audit outside of your typical annual review time period.
An internal audit, when done correctly, can be a lot of work, but that doesn’t mean you have to do it alone. Utilizing the experience and fresh eyes of an external consultant can help identify gaps and offer solutions that your firm’s compliance team might not have.
COMPLY’s 2025 IAR CE Guide
Your registered investment adviser (RIA) compliance program requires rigorous attention to detail, ongoing evolution, and strict adherence to regulatory standards. And for compliance professionals, that’s all in a day’s work.
What about the compliance requirements that impact the firm’s individual Investment Adviser Representatives (IAR)? With the vast majority of their time focused on your clients, compliance might not make the daily (or even weekly) to-do list for an IAR.
Unfortunately, this can have a significant impact, especially when you’re talking about IAR Continuing Education (CE) requirements. Fact: Failure to comply with IAR CE requirements can result in a termination of an IAR’s registration and, for your firm, loss of business.
But what exactly is required and how can you help your IARs stay on top of their IAR CE compliance obligations? From what the NASAA IAR CE Model Rule entails to who must comply, we’ve got the answers to your top IAR CE questions.
Have additional compliance questions? Schedule time to speak with our regulatory and technology experts.