RIA Compliance and Practice Management Blog

On August 12, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations ("OCIE") released a new risk alert with information highlighting select COVID-19 compliance risks and considerations for SEC-registered investment advisers ("RIA") identified through industry outreach efforts and consultation with other regulators. Due to COVID-19, OCIE recognized "SEC registrants have been faced with new operational, technological, commercial, and other challenges and issues. In many cases, these challenges and issues have created important regulatory and compliance questions and considerations for SEC registrants."

Each week we’re giving you our weekly report highlighting the top compliance news articles from various industry news publications. We have selected the most relevant and important news articles related to registered investment adviser ("RIA") compliance and regulatory issues. This week's recap focuses on upcoming changes to the Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") advertising rule, how the financial industry is increasing their spend on cybersecurity, and whether or not work from home will be the new normal for advisors. Here's our top investment adviser compliance articles for the week of July 31st, 2020:

One of our company's longstanding commitments is investing time and resources to make the RIA in a Box MyRIACompliance^® platform the industry leading compliance technology offering for registered investment adviser ("RIA") firms. We put the client first by delivering innovative software and expert advice. Since 2005 we take pride in partnering with our clients to establish and support the highest quality registered investment adviser firms in the country.  At RIA in a Box, we release new MyRIACompliance^® software features and enhancements on a daily basis to meet the growing compliance challenges that investment advisers continue to confront. 

Each week we’re giving you our weekly report highlighting the top compliance news articles from various industry news publications. We have selected the most relevant and important news articles related to registered investment adviser ("RIA") compliance and regulatory issues. This week's recap focuses on warnings from the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") regarding Form CRS shortcomings, the SEC's newly created Event and Emerging Risks Examination Team ("EERT"), and a roundtable for Form CRS issues.

The findings in this blog post come from our annual survey of over 1,600 registered investment adviser ("RIA") firms that was conducted in the first quarter of 2020. This proprietary RIA in a Box study is paired with publicly accessible data provided by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The goal of our annual study is to understand different options that comprise each firm characteristic, and to determine whether specific characteristics impact the growth, size, or operational efficiency of an RIA firm. In this blog post, we will explore our survey results in response to risk tolerance software systems used by RIA firms.

Each week we’re giving you our weekly report highlighting the top compliance news articles from various industry news publications. We have selected the most relevant and important news articles related to registered investment adviser ("RIA") compliance and regulatory issues. This week's recap focuses on RIA in a Box's newly released MyRIACompliance mobile app, the importance of business continuity planning during the COVID-19 pandemic, and The North American Securities Administrators Association ("NASAA") possibly requiring firms to have a succession plan.

One of our company's longstanding commitments is investing time and resources to make the RIA in a Box service more valuable to the clients we serve. Since launching MyRIACompliance® in 2014, we have sought to make our service more efficient and higher quality by combining our human expertise with new tools and features. At RIA in a Box, we release new compliance software features and enhancements on a daily basis.

Each week we’re giving you our weekly report highlighting the top compliance news articles from various industry news publications. We have selected the most relevant and important news articles related to registered investment adviser ("RIA") compliance and regulatory issues. This week's recap focuses on the Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") latest risk alert, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") moves to online testing for Series exams, and Oklahoma no longer requiring state-registered advisors to complete the client relationship summary ("Form CRS").

On July 10,2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations ("OCIE") released a new risk alert with information indicating "that one or more threat actors have orchestrated phishing and other campaigns designed to penetrate financial institution networks to, among other objectives, access internal resources and deploy ransomware." In addition, the risk alert identifies an "increase in sophistication of ransomware attacks on SEC registrants, which include broker-dealers, investment advisers, and investment companies." 

Each week we’re giving you our weekly report highlighting the top compliance news articles from various industry news publications. We have selected the most relevant and important news articles related to registered investment adviser ("RIA") compliance and regulatory issues. This week's recap focuses on a new rule model proposed by state regulators to align with the Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") rules, RIA in a Box's Path to Independence partnership, and the short Department of Labor ("DOL") fiduciary rule comment period.