Author Archives for NRS

In case you have not heard, according to this year’s Evolution Revolution report released on September 6 by NRS and the IAA, the number of SEC-registered investment advisers continues to climb.

As part of its continuing efforts to review and revamp the organization (i.e. FINRA360), FINRA has consolidated its enforcement units in order to streamline investigations, improve consistency and transparency and, ultimately, improve relationships with member firms.

Following the US Supreme Court’s June 21 decision in the Lucia case , the SEC issued a stay of all cases being heard by Administrative Law Judges (“ALJs”) for 30 days or until the SEC issues further orders.

Congratulations! You’ve completed that last module and you’re eager to zip through the rest of your exam prep course …

On Monday, May 7, the Department of Labor issued a “field bulletin” to industry stakeholders stating that it would not pursue enforcement actions against investment advice fiduciaries “who are working diligently and in good faith to comply” with the BIC exemption and principal transaction exemption requirements of its much debated “fiduciary rule.”

If you’ve been following the saga of the DOL’s fiduciary standard, you know that after a few years of hashing it out, it is still being debated. Now the SEC has picked up this onerous task. On April 18, the SEC voted to propose “Regulation Best Interest,” a “leisurely” 1,000-page read that spells out the rules and interpretations designed to improve the clarity of investor relationships with investment advisers and broker/dealers.

The SEC officially entered the fiduciary standard fray with the release of its much-anticipated fiduciary /best interest proposal April 18. The three-part proposal is likely to be controversial in several respects, as contrasts with the DOL’s hapless Fiduciary Rule are inevitable.

In another twist to evolving fiduciary standards in the securities industry, a 2-1 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit vacated the entire Department of Labor’s “fiduciary rule” last Thursday. The DOL rule would extend a fiduciary standard to brokers, insurance agents, and anyone else offering “advice” regarding retirement accounts.

In the absence of long-term regulatory solutions to the whirlwind that is digital or cryptocurrency, we have been provided with guidance on how to apply current regulations to this evolving market.The regulators are making it clear that industry professionals will be held accountable for actions that step outside the principles and spirit of current securities rules and regulations.

October 1, 2018, marks the day that FINRA will begin to administer the newly revised qualification process where candidates will need to pass a Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam before taking a condensed version of the Series 6 or Series 7, known as Top-Off, or Specialized Knowledge Exams (SKE).