Tag Archives: SEC

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…

Surprise Audit Provision Dropped From New SEC Custody Regulations

Posted on December 17, 2009 by in Compliance

secAbout six months ago in response to the uproar over the Bernie Madoff fraud, the SEC proposed updates to the custody rule that would require RIAs who debit fees from client accounts to be subject to surprise audits.

Needless to say, this proposal did not go over well, especially when costs for surprise audits were estimated to be north of $8,000.

See previous posts on FPPad: Proposed SEC Custody Rules Could Cost Advisers Extra $8,100 and SEC Surprise Audit Proposal Likely to be Dropped According to FPA.

Yesterday the SEC passed new custody regulations, and the surprise audit provision for RIAs who only debit fees was dropped. In addition, the SEC published a custody matrix, if you will, defining the different adviser arrangements along with their respective duties and responsibilities.

The folks over at RIABiz posted more about the custody provisions, plus they included the custody matrix chart for reference.

Click here to view the custody matrix on the RIABiz website.

Surprise Audit Costs Severely Underestimated by SEC According to SIFMA

Posted on August 5, 2009 by in Practice Management

I wrote back in May about the SEC’s proposal to require surprise audits of Registered Investment Advisers who have custody of client assets. The proposal also clarified that custody requirements apply to advisers who withdraw advisory and/or management fees directly from client accounts. Therefore, advisers with custody of client funds would be required to undergo surprise audits, estimated by the SEC to be $8,100.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) recently said not so fast. $8,100 is severely underestimated.

According to SIFMA, estimates for surprise audits of RIAs who custody funds are as high as $282,800. You read that right: nearly three hundred thousand dollars.

Obviously the exact estimate depends on the amount of assest under management and the number of accounts, custodians, and securities maintained by an RIA.

For more information on the cost estimates, refer to this article at InvestmentNews.

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…

SEC Surprise Audit Proposal Likely to be Dropped According to FPA

Posted on May 27, 2009 by in Practice Management

Last week I wrote about the proposed changes published by the SEC to require surprise audits of investment advisers who debit fees directly from clients’ accounts, falling under the requirements of custody. The proposed changes were estimated to cost each adviser office on average of $8,100 a year in compliance costs.

This proposal, just barely three weeks old, seems likely to be rescinded according to this Financial Planning article published by Donna Mitchell.  In it she writes:

Unofficial reports from the SEC, however, now suggest that the regulator is dropping the third-party compliance audit requirement for advisors, according to the Financial Planning Association’s Web site.

To read the full article, click here.

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…

Proposed SEC Custody Rules Could Cost Advisers Extra $8,100

Posted on May 21, 2009 by in Practice Management

secUpdate: See the article FPA, NAPFA and IAA to fight SEC’s pop-quiz proposal from InvestmentNews.com where group officials say “that the proposal is misguided and would saddle advisers with unnecessary costs.”

It should be no surprise to financial advisers following the Madoff Ponzi scandal that the SEC recently issued proposed rule changes to custody requirements. The release, IA-2876 (click to view PDF from SEC.gov), addresses custody requirements of client funds and securities and is open for a 60-day comment period through July 28, 2009. Should the proposed rules be adopted, advisers may face additional compliance fees of $8,100 on average.

Surprise Examination Proposal

The SEC proposes that advisers with custody of client assets must undergo an annual surprise examination by an independent public accountant, regardless of whether or not assets are held by a qualified custodian. The premise behind the surprise examination requirement is to provide “another set of eyes” on client assets to prevent fraud and misappropriation of client funds by registered advisers.  Reports of theft and fraud by advisers have plagued the SEC since the Madoff scandal erupted in late 2008. So what does this mean for advisers meeting the custody definition?

Read More…