Common Compliance Mishaps

Published on Oct 17th, 2025 |

Vigilant Insights

Introduction

In today’s evolving regulatory landscape, even well-intentioned Firms can face challenges in maintaining full compliance with SEC and/or FINRA requirements. Small oversights can quickly escalate into costly deficiencies or even lead to enforcement actions depending on the severity.

For this Vigilant Insights release, we are covering common compliance mishaps, and how we can help with preventing those mishaps.

Some of the most frequent compliance pitfalls include:

Inadequate Policies and Procedures: Outdated or generic compliance manuals that fail to reflect current business practices or recent regulatory updates.
Annual Review Report Deficiencies: Failure to properly conduct, document, and test the Compliance Program (SEC Rule 206(4)-7 for Investment Advisers, SEC Rule 38a-1 for Registered Funds, and FINRA Rule 3110 for Broker-Dealers), resulting in incomplete assessments, insufficient testing, or missed findings.
Advertising and Marketing Violations: Misleading performance claims, social media misuse, or missing disclosures under the SEC’s Marketing Rule.
Insufficient Oversight: Weak supervisory structures and unclear accountability among compliance personnel and business units.
Books and Records Issues: Failure to maintain complete and accurate records in required formats or for the proper retention periods.
Trade and Communication Surveillance Gaps: Lack of monitoring for electronic communications and personal trading, which are key focus areas for regulators.

How Vigilant Can Help

Vigilant is an Award Winning and Industry Recognized provider of Outsourced Compliance Services that help Investment Advisers, Registered Funds, and Broker Dealers stay ahead of regulatory expectations.

With deep expertise in SEC and FINRA rules, Vigilant offers:

On-Going Compliance Services through either an Outsourced CCO or CCO Support model tailored to your Firm’s structure and operations.
Comprehensive Compliance Program Reviews to identify risks and close gaps before regulators do.
Annual Review Report Assistance including documentation, testing, and reporting for SEC Rules 206(4)-7, 38a-1, and/or FINRA Rule 3110.
Advertising and Marketing Reviews to ensure materials align with the latest SEC Marketing Rule guidance.
Regulatory Examination Support to help Firms during examinations and assist with responses to deficiency letters.
Mock Exams to simulate SEC or FINRA examinations, helping Firms proactively identify and remediate potential deficiencies.

Vigilant’s proactive, hands-on approach helps Firms not only meet compliance requirements but also strengthen their operational integrity and reputation.

To learn more about how Vigilant can help safeguard your firm against common compliance pitfalls, schedule a call with our team today.