InfoBytes Blog
Filter
Subscribe to our InfoBytes Blog weekly newsletter and other publications for news affecting the financial services industry.
FINRA Report Reviews Broker-Dealer Industry Conflicts Of Interest
On October 14, FINRA released a report on conflicts of interest in the broker-dealer industry, stating that the report is intended to identify potential problem areas and highlight effective conflicts management practices that may go beyond current regulatory requirements. The report identifies the components of an effective conflicts management framework, which include, for example (i) identifying and managing conflicts on an ongoing basis through an enterprise-level approach that is scaled to the size and complexity of a firm's business, (ii) establishing new product review processes that provide independent perspectives and identify potential conflicts raised by new products, (iii) minimizing conflicts in compensation structures between customer and broker or firm interests where possible, and (iv) including "best-interest-of-the-customer" standards in codes of conduct that apply to brokers' personalized recommendations to retail customers.
FINRA To Begin Sharing Additional MBS Information
On July 22, FINRA announced that it will begin to disseminate information for so-called specified pool transactions in agency pass-through mortgage-backed securities and SBA-backed securities, including transaction information such as the time of the trade, price and volume. Transactions must be reported to within two hours of execution (the reporting period is reduced to one hour after a six month implementation period), and are disseminated as soon as received. Combined with FINRA’s action last year to begin disseminating transaction information for agency pass-through mortgage-backed securities traded "to-be-announced" (TBA), FINRA now will be sharing information for securities that represent over 90 percent of the par value traded in all asset- and mortgage-backed securities.
SEC Approves FINRA Rule Change to Publicly Release Additional Disciplinary Action Information
On June 21, the SEC approved a change to FINRA’s rules that will allow the self-regulatory organization to publish greater information about FINRA’s disciplinary actions. Under existing rules, FINRA only releases disciplinary actions upon request, unless the action meets specified criteria established for use in determining whether an action is worthy of publication. Once the new rules take effect – likely several months from now – those publication criteria will be removed, and most FINRA disciplinary actions will be released as a matter of course. FINRA will retain authority to redact information to protect privacy of individuals. The new rules also update and codify FINRA’s practices related to the publication of other FINRA actions, including temporary cease and desist orders, statutory disqualification decisions, expedited proceeding decisions, summary actions, and others.
FINRA Expands Role Overseeing Equities Markets
On May 22, FINRA announced that it was selected by Direct Edge, the third largest U.S. stock exchange operator, to provide market surveillance services on behalf of Direct Edge’s two licensed stock exchanges. The agreement extends FINRA's surveillance oversight to more than 90% of U.S. equities trading volume. With this agreement, all of Direct Edge's third-party regulatory services will be consolidated with FINRA.
FINRA Fines Three Broker-Dealers Over AML Compliance Failures, Suspends Executives
On May 8, FINRA announced that it fined three firms a combined $900,000 and suspended four executives for allegedly failing to establish and implement adequate anti-money laundering programs. Specifically, FINRA claims that investigations into the three firms revealed that (i) one firm failed to identify suspicious account activity or did not adequately investigate numerous AML "red flags" and that certain of the firm’s customers' accounts engaged in a pattern of activity consisting of moving millions of dollars through the accounts while conducting minimal-to-no securities transactions, (ii) a second firm that specialized in online trading and catered to the Chinese community failed to implement an AML program adequate to detect and report suspicious transactions, including potential manipulative trading, and (iii) a third firm failed to create and enforce a supervisory system and written procedures to monitor for unlawful transactions in unregistered penny stocks and failed to establish a program reasonably designed to monitor for and report suspicious activity. The suspended executives included two chief compliance officers who failed to fulfill obligations to monitor in accordance with AML requirements, and two owners. The suspensions range from three to nine months. The firms and the executives did not admit to the allegations, but agreed to pay the fines to resolve the investigation.
FINRA Issues Notice Regarding Increasing Account Attacks and Theft of Funds
On January 26, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued Regulatory Notice 12-05, notifying institutions of an increase in reports of customer funds being stolen through improper access to customer email accounts and unauthorized electronic instructions to transfer or withdraw funds. FINRA urged firms to review policies and procedures to ensure protection of customer funds, particularly in cases where the request for funds and transmittal are handled electronically. FINRA recommends that policies and procedures include methods for confirming the identity of the requestor, as well as a system to identify and respond to “red flags.” Concurrent with the regulatory notice, FINRA issued an alert to investors warning about the increased account breach activity and providing tips for protecting account information and funds.