FINRA Cites MSRB Rule G-13 in Action Against Broker Dealer
Whitepapers | FINRA One of Vigilant's Directors, Deane Armstrong, created a Whitepaper discussing issues raised by the recent FINRA Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) letter of a Firm cited for MSRB Violations. This Whitepaper goes into detail on the AWC letter that was signed by a firm regarding alleged violations of MSRB Rules 13, 17, and 27. Want to learn more about the Whitepaper regarding the concerns and findings from FINRA? Click here to download Vigilant's Whitepaper! What is Vigilant and what do they have to offer? Vigilant is a full-service Investment Management Solutions Firm. Vigilant offers core…
Read MoreLucia Ends Almost Decade Long Battle with The SEC
The SEC announced on June 16, 2020 that they have agreed to a Settlement with Raymond J. Lucia, Sr. and Raymond J. Lucia Companies, Inc. after litigation ensued for almost eight years as a result of a cease-and-desist order in 2012 concerning a marketing strategy employed by Lucia and his San Diego based investment advisory firm. The strategy involved using alleged materially misleading testing to promote the success of the strategy. This settlement comes after the case went all the way to the US Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of Lucia on the issue of improper appointment of the…
Read MoreHow Firms Can Work to Protect Senior Investors
Baby boomers are growing older, and that is transforming our national demographics. By 2035, it is estimated that 78 million senior citizens will live in the United States. The median age of U.S. citizens would rise from 38 today to 43 by 2060. Those baby boomers also control a lot of assets, including more than half of household wealth. Unfortunately, this also means the number of seniors who will become targets to be tricked, conned or exploited for their wealth will remain high. As seniors age, they become more vulnerable to scams by people posing as "helpers." It can be harder for them…
Read MoreHow to Prepare for an SEC Examination
No matter how smoothly your firm operates or how diligent your compliance team is, the prospect of an SEC examination strikes fear, stress and anxiety into investment advisers and registered investment companies. Because regulations are constantly in flux, it's difficult to fully gauge how your compliance policies and procedures stand up to the requirements. For some firms, the first real test of their compliance program's effectiveness happens during an SEC examination. Unfortunately for those firms, about 75 percent of exams over the past five years have found deficiencies within a firm's compliance program. As the SEC's National Examination Program continues to ramp…
Read MoreThe Impact of GDPR on the Asset and Wealth-Management Industry
Regarded as the largest data regulation act in modern European history, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has taken the compliance world by storm. Adopted in April of 2016, the new regulation addresses the mounting concern over the use and security of private consumer information online — with its sight set on a complete regulatory overhaul. GDPR becomes effective on May 25, 2018. As that date rapidly approaches, it's no surprise that questions and concerns for GDPR and the wealth-management industry have blossomed. As written, GDPR's impact on fund, investment and asset managers could be large, costly, and time consuming. Table…
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