Technology & Expertise to Scale & Meet Your Compliance Program Requirements

CSS offers financial firms access to market-leading technology managed services and compliance services to build, implement and optimize parts of or your entire compliance program. Our team of regulatory experts helps fulfill compliance requirements or alleviate specific program challenges that help you increase operational efficiency, reduce total cost of ownership and mitigate risk.

Compliance Services

Regulatory expertise, tools and processes to strategically translate regulatory requirements into operational needs

Whether an SMB or global Tier 1 organization, broker-dealer, investment adviser or NFA member, financial firms need regulatory guidance and the tools to navigate compliance complexities. CSS’s team of regulatory experts, former Chief Compliance Officers and regulators, along with our compliance management and regulatory reporting tools, bridge the gap between regulations and business management to help compliance teams build and manage highly efficient, adaptable and scalable compliance programs.

Whether outsourcing the CCO role or e-communications and marketing reviews, or performing discrete compliance management tasks, preparing for a regulatory exam, conducting an annual review or a comprehensive cybersecurity assessment, CSS can optimize your current compliance program and processes and help you meet your future state objectives. CSS can also build a customized compliance program for managing cryptocurrency assets to meet the growing investor demand in this space.

Outsourced Compliance

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Examinations & Enforcement

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Risk Assessment & Annual Reviews

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Registrations

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Cybersecurity

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Form CRS

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Outsourced Compliance

Leverage CSS’s regulatory experts to assist with ongoing compliance responsibilities

CSS’s Compliance Services experts, many of whom are former Chief Compliance Officers themselves, have walked in your shoes and understand the challenges you face – from wearing multiple hats to managing risk, and very often having to do more with less.

We can parachute in expertise to fulfill the CCO role or provide support to relieve you of more tactical compliance tasks and functions. CSS is here to help and guide your firm on everything from performing risk assessments, annual reviews and mock exams, preparing regulatory filings, conducting code of ethics management or e-communications surveillance and marketing reviews, to cybersecurity gap analyses, or advise and direct on a range of regulatory initiatives, like the upcoming changes to the Marketing Rule.

Reduce risk and prevent reputational damage from non-compliance by leveraging our team of regulatory experts

CSS can build, optimize or manage a full end-to-end compliance program or help you with the “last mile” of implementation

Scale your compliance staff strategically and fill gaps between employees and during hiring processes

Lower total cost of ownership and increase value to the business

Examinations and Enforcement

Total readiness for inevitable regulatory reviews

All registered broker-dealers, investment advisers, investment companies, and NFA members are subject to regulatory examination of their compliance programs and compliance with SEC, FINRA, and CFTC regulations. It’s not a matter of if, but when – and CSS specializes in helping firms prepare with thorough analysis of all trading, communications, operations, and policies and procedures. CSS can help firms achieve full readiness for any review and implement a strategy to reduce or eliminate risk of potential business disruption as a result of an examination, from lack of preparation to enforcement for non-compliance.

Mock Examinations

Pre-Enforcement Strategy, Testing & Collaboration with your Legal Team

Remediation Planning & Implementation

Business Continuity Planning/Cybersecurity

Risk Assessments and Annual Reviews

Prepare now for what’s on the regulatory horizon

CSS walks hand-in-hand with your organization to develop and implement a robust evaluation and review framework for your firm. Whether meeting your firm’s annual compliance program review requirements, performing an ad hoc policy-specific review, or outlining risks and matching controls in a risk framework, CSS’s compliance experts seek efficiency and effectiveness. Our reviews conclude with accurate reports helping to mitigate risks and elevating your program from tactical to strategic compliance.

We work with your team to:

  • Create a uniform framework for managing risk internally and across affiliates
  • Manage existing risks, and identify and assess new risks
  • Document an audit trail and summarize risks within the firm
  • Link identified controls to related policies, tests and certifications
  • Appropriately document results and issues identified
  • Develop testing and resource schedules, monitor statuses, and manage issues
  • Strategically revise policies and procedures to align with SEC rules, current focus and guidance, including business continuity plans to be ready for the unexpected

Registrations

Quickly and easily scale and navigate changes to your business

We can help you navigate every step of the complex processes and requirements with the SEC, FINRA, and NFA/CFTC, as well as individual states. For FINRA registrations, we cover all business models, including placement agents, capital acquisition brokers or CABs, and full-service broker-dealers. As your business grows, CSS is there to help you scale, whether adding new financial professionals or services to managing an enterprise.

  • Registration with regulatory bodies
  • Preparation of Form ADV, Parts 1 & 2 and Form CRS, Form BD, and Form 7-R
  • Registration of principals, officers and advisory reps as needed
  • Preparation of all regulatory documentation
  • Drafting of Code of Ethics, insider trading policies and compliance manuals
  • Developing your compliance program
  • Delivering training

Cybersecurity

Assess, protect, monitor and take back control of your firm’s risk

CSS helps firms understand cybersecurity risks from regulatory, business and operational perspectives. From implementing and maintaining cyber and business continuity policies and procedures to performing testing, conducting security awareness training or assessing or building a full cyber program, CSS’s cybersecurity experts will design or adapt your program based on your firm’s needs and stage of growth.

Policies & Procedures Development & Review

Network Vulnerability Scans

Penetration Testing

Dark Web Monitoring

Phishing Testing

Security Awareness Training

Vendor Due Diligence

Mock Regulatory Exams

Custom Cybersecurity Assessment

Form CRS

CSS’s Form CRS Automator remains the only industry tool that automatically creates your customized Form CRS by linking existing publicly available Form ADV data to concise, comprehensive text

CSS developed the market’s first comprehensive, fully customizable Web-based software tool to create your Form CRS, which investment advisers and broker-dealers were required to file with the SEC or FINRA by June 30, 2020.

  • Reduce risk and prevent reputational damage from non-compliance by leveraging our team of regulatory experts
  • Automatically generate disclosure that is consistent with existing regulatory filings, including more than 70 data points in Form ADV, Part 1A
  • Save valuable time in preparation and cost
  • Reduce risk of non-compliant content

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