Welcome to our biweekly recap, where we curate the top compliance news and insights from various industry publications. We have selected the most relevant and important updates related to regulatory compliance, industry news, and critical updates.
Today’s recap focuses on the ongoing legal battle regarding the DOL’s Fiduciary Rule, focus from the DOJ on AI risks, how the upcoming election may impact the regulatory agenda, the FCA’s Annual Report results, and the SEC’s stance on cryptocurrency.
Here are our top compliance articles as of September 27, 2024:
DOL to appeal court stays on fiduciary rule for retirement advice (Author – Dan Shaw, Financial Planning)
“The Department of Labor is appealing two stays placed by Texas courts on its new fiduciary rule for retirement-related advice.
The rule, released in April, was scheduled to take effect on Monday but was instead postponed by preliminary injunctions handed down in late July by a pair of federal district courts in Texas…
The Department of Labor’s latest filings, submitted on Sept. 20, both merely give notice of plans to appeal the judges’ injunctions of the new fiduciary rule.”
Justice Department Pushes Companies to Consider AI Risks (Author – Dylan Tokar, Wall Street Journal)
The Department of Justice’s Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs latest update includes:
- How compliance programs should use AI, balancing the benefits of the new technology against the risks
- Use of data to improve compliance programs
- Treatment of whistleblowers and those who report misconduct
“The changes expand upon the idea that companies should constantly assess risks, learn from compliance slip-ups and adapt their compliance programs as needed.”
The Regulatory State Is In Flux Like Never Before, and Businesses Are Hating It (Author – Dylan Tokar, Wall Street Journal)
The upcoming election could have an extreme impact on the regulatory agenda. Compounded by recent Supreme Court rulings, many businesses and institutions await the November decision for insight into how regulations will unfold over the next few years. To put it into perspective, a record-breaking 273 rules were put into place under Biden’s presidency, with more to come.
Because the general uncertainty around how the regulatory agenda will play out, “In some cases, businesses are faced with deciding whether to prepare for costly regulations that might never come into existence.”
FCA’s improved performance set to help UK finance sector thrive (Author – FCA)
The FCA’s Annual Report highlights key improvements and insights from the UK-based regulator. Takeaways include:
- The FCA expects that approximately 270,000 customers will receive close to £60m in compensation.
- The FCA has introduced new rules that require cryptoassets promotions to UK consumers to be clear, fair and not misleading.
- Since 31 July 2023, more than 42,000 firms must make sure they can evidence good outcomes for consumers for any new and existing ‘on sale’ products and services, and for closed ‘not on sale’ products since 31 July 2024, in line with the Consumer Duty.
The full report can be found here.
SEC leaders spar at testy House hearing (Author – Julia Shapero, The Hill)
Cryptocurrency was once again a topic of debate for the SEC. Chair Gensler and Commissioner Peirce both vocalized their opinions on the regulator’s evolving stance regarding digital assets, with Gensler supporting the work to regulate the asset based on the classification of security under the Howey Test.
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