Tag Archives: FINRA

Upcoming Financial Adviser Webcast Series: Guide to Going Digital

Posted on May 10, 2010 by in Compliance, Professional Development

I joined a fantastic team at Revenue Architects to deliver a series of financial adviser webcasts to help advisers accelerate their online presence.

Revenue Architects is an expert network of independent marketing, sales, and technology professionals aligned to support the diverse needs for adviser revenue performance. All the details of Revenue Architects can be viewed on their website, http://www.revenuearchitects.com/

I’m presenting the Guide to Going Digital webcast with John Stone, CEO of Revenue Architects, on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 from 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM (ET). The webcast details can be viewed here: http://www.revenuearchitects.com/events-and-webcasts/

FPPad readers are eligible for a 10% discount off the webcast registration. Enter the code FPPadDigital to receive your discount. The code is valid for all four of the events in the Financial Adviser Webcast series.

I hope you consider joining the webcast if you’re serious about growing your presence in the rapidly evolving digital world.

Smarsh, Socialware Partner to Command Social Media Compliance Market

Posted on May 4, 2010 by in Compliance

I’d like to be able to say that I saw this coming, but that’s not entirely the case.

Today, Smarsh, Inc. the leading email archive solution provider to financial advisers, and Socialware, a provider of social media archive and policy enforcement tools, announced a partnership to combine their respective technologies to provide one solution for messaging and social media governance and compliance.

Click here to view the press release on Smarsh’s website.

I’ve written about both Smarsh and Socialware before, and while each company’s products could help advisers comply with regulatory requirements when using social media, neither offered an all-in-one solution. Smarsh dominates the archiving market, but lacks coverage in the social media space. Socialware commands the social media space, but doesn’t specialize in compliant archiving.

So I view the partnership as a very promising relationship in support of an all-in-one social media compliance solution to satisfy FINRA and SEC regulatory requirements.

I hope to be able to check out the offering in the future and report back on its capabilities (either here or in my other media outlets).

Socialware Launches Social Media Archive Service, Rebrands Website

Posted on March 23, 2010 by in Compliance, Technology

I’ve made several mentions on FPPad about Socialware, an emerging provider of social media archive and policy enforcement tools, but I’ve yet to include a full feature of their services.

Today, Socialware announced several new initiatives to better serve the market of individuals and small and medium businesses (SMBs). The full announcement can be viewed on the Socialware blog.

What do these changes mean to advisers?

Read More…

FPA of Maryland Webinar to Address Compliance Issues of Social Media

Posted on March 20, 2010 by in Practice Management

Despite FINRA’s issuance of social media regulatory guidance, advisors still have many questions about what can and cannot be done on social media websites.

I’ll be presenting a webinar to the Financial Planning Association of Maryland to address the compliance issues of using social media and networking websites.

I’ll be joined by Adam Schaub, CFP®, Compliance Manager for 1st Global in Dallas, TX. Topics covered will include:

  • Documentation of policies and procedures
  • Summary of regulatory guidance
  • Supervision and record retention
  • Overview of compliance tools and utilities

The webinar will be held on Thursday, April 1, 12:00PM EDT. FPA of Maryland members can attend for $20, all others can attend for $30.

Click here for the event PDF brochure. |  Click here to register.

Get a Summary of FINRA’s Social Networking Webinar from Socialware

Posted on February 3, 2010 by in Compliance

Earlier today, FINRA held a webinar titled Compliance Considerations for Social Networking Sites. I had a schedule conflict, otherwise I definitely would have attended.

Thankfully, Chad Bockius of Socialware posted a summary of the webinar content plus the Twitter stream he generated during the event.

Click here to read Chad’s summary.

FINRA Issues Guidance to Firms, Brokers on Communications with Public Through Social Networking Web Sites

Posted on January 25, 2010 by in Technology

That’s right, FINRA just released guidance on the use of social media webistes!

Click here to read the release on FINRA’s website.

Here are several links to coverage, reviews, and feedback by folks I follow in the blogosphere and social media space:

FINRA Delays Webinar on Social Networking Guidelines

Posted on November 23, 2009 by in Compliance

I posted back in October that FINRA scheduled a webinar to discuss guidelines when using social networking websites. The webinar was scheduled for December 16, 2009.

I learned today via AdvisorTweets on Twitter that the webinar has been postponed for three months. It now is scheduled for March 17, 2010. One thing that hasn’t changed is the $50 member/$100 non-member registration fee required to attend the event.

Click the image below to connect to FINRA’s website and get the new details.

FINRA Beating SEC on Social Networking Guidelines

Posted on October 21, 2009 by in Compliance

Like them or not, FINRA is getting the jump on the SEC over issuing guidelines to registered representatives regarding the use of social networking.

FINRA is offering a compliance webinar on December 16, 2009 to cover “compliance and regulatory considerations when using social networking sites to communicate firm business.”

Why FINRA decided to charge $50 for members and $100 for non-members is beyond me. I would think they would want to make this information free to increase compliance with the guidelines set by FINRA. I digress.

Read More…

Satisfy Compliance Requirements For Social Media Content

Posted on June 22, 2009 by in Technology

Update: LifestreamBackup recently changed its name to Backupify. The points in this post are still applicable despite the name change!

Many advisers who consult with me regarding the use of social media are justifiably concerned about compliance when it comes to using such services. Advisers can use outlets like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to communicate with others and to broadcast information to targeted niche markets. These tools are fantastic ways to build brand recognition for an adviser or a firm and to identify the level of services offered to the public.

I’ve written here previously how FINRA and the SEC may determine that any message disseminated through social media services constitutes marketing and/or advertising and at the very least should be archived and retained in a compliance file. If you are a representative regulated under FINRA, you likely need pre-approval from compliance before posting any messages through social media services. SEC-registered advisers should consult with their Chief Compliance Officer before posting messages as well.

Now let’s assume that an adviser decides to use social media to grow the business. Terrific! But what can be done to efficiently archive and retain those messages sent through social media services?

Read More…

Smarsh Adds Twitter Message Archiving Service

Posted on May 27, 2009 by in Technology

Smarsh

Smarsh continues to impress me as an innovative force and market leader in email archiving and compliance. They recently announced a Smarsh CRM product to help users be more efficient and productive (a post I’ve had in my drafts section ever since my son was born!).

Today I read an article on a new service that may prove to be very useful and timely to the adviser community.

Smarsh has announced a social media (a.k.a.Twitter) message archiving service at a Twitter conference this week.

Read More…