Legacy Blog

Ascendant summarizes SEC and FINRA exam priority letters, highlighting key topics to investment advisers and broker-dealers, along with practical advice.

Ascendant Compliance Management announces its partnership with Compliance Solutions Strategies (“CSS”), a newly founded global compliance risk management company.

The SEC met its stated fiscal year 2016 goal by examining 11 percent of the investment adviser pool, meaning over 1,300 advisers were covered.

Some SEC exams might not focus on cyber at all, but the ones that do are likely to now include a more in-depth examination of it.

New York’s 23 NYCRR 500 Cybersecurity rule goes into effect on March 1, 2017 requiring banks and other financial services companies to establish and maintain a cybersecurity program designed to protect consumers and ensure the safety and soundness of the state’s financial services industry.

The SEC’s Office of Compliance and Examinations (“OCIE”) released its Examination Priorities for 2017 with a focus on “certain practices, products, and services that OCIE perceives to present potentially heightened risk to investors and/or the integrity of the U.S. capital markets.”

As 2017 begins to take shape, Ascendant reviews new investment adviser regulatory trends across the DOL Fiduciary Rule, the November Election, and Dodd-Frank regulation

In an October 2013 speech that delved into CCO liability, SEC Chair Mary Jo White said, “(a)lthough we do occasionally bring enforcement actions against compliance personnel, compliance officers who perform their responsibilities diligently, in good faith, and in compliance with the law are our partners and need not fear enforcement action.”

AML. DOL. Big Data. Election 2016. The list of rulemaking changes, technology advancements and possible policy shifts is enough to send…

Rule 206(4)-7 of the Advisers Act and Rule 38a-1 of the Investment Company Act require an Investment Adviser and a…

Big data is now embedded into the fabric of the SEC and will likely inform the selection of examination targets…

With a continued focus on technology tools to filter data and detect illegal conduct in the markets, the SEC announced a record year for enforcement. In fiscal year 2016, it completed 868 total actions, an increase of almost 15 percent over just two years ago.