It’s that time of year again and FINRA has published its Exam Priorities Letter which highlights areas of significant focus in their audit program. These priorities represent FINRA’s assessment of…

Social Media, like many things in the financial services industry has a lot of risks that need to be handled appropriately. FINRA and the SEC have issued rules and guidance…

On December 3, 2012 the SEC Approved New FINRA Rule 5123 Regarding Private Placements. FINRA Rule 5123 requires each FINRA member that sells an issuer’s securities in a private placement,…

The SEC recently showed that it can and will impose the expanded rules provided by the Dodd-Frank Act to actions that occurred before the statute became effective. The case in…

The Massachusetts Securities Division (“MSD”) issued a statement to remind Massachusetts registered advisers who are located in the state and have investment discretion that they must obtain a bond of…

News agencies are reporting that Robert Khuzami, the Director of the SEC Division of Enforcement, is leaving the SEC. According to the reports, this has not been confirmed by Mr….

Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, internet forums are all social media tools widely utilized in today’s technology age and a prevalent, almost expected, part of doing business and maintaining personal…

As the holiday season approaches, so does the deadline for annual renewals. Annual Renewals are due December 13, 2012. To ensure that your renewal process is completed in timely and…

In the aftermath of Allen Stanford’s $7 billion Ponzi scheme and blistering congressional and SEC reviews, the Fort Worth office is under new management and rebuilding its reputation into one…

At the recent National Society of Compliance Professionals conference October 22, 2012, Carlo di Florio, the SEC’s Director of the Office of Compliance Inspections (“OCIE”) and Examinations, instructed broker-dealers and…

Based upon coordinated examinations of broker-dealers throughout the United States, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has identified the top compliance violations and offered a series of recommended best…

Revised provisions under the Advisers Act, Rule 205-3, are effective as of 5/22/2012. As an Investment Adviser, you may charge performance based fees providing natural person(s) meet minimum assets under…