RIA Compliance and Practice Management Blog

On Feb. 7, 2023, the Securities and Exchange (SEC) Division of Examinations released its 2023 annual exam priorities, highlighting focus areas for the coming year. The stated priorities include a critical focus on new rulings impacting registered investment advisers (RIA) and other SEC-registered firms, such as the SEC Marketing Rule, which went into effect in late 2022.

While initially introduced in December 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) New Marketing Rule officially went into effect on Mar. 4, 2021, with an effective compliance date of Nov. 4, 2022.

With this change in ruling, registered investment advisers (RIA) now have the ability to use client testimonials, past-performance illustrations and endorsements from third parties. However, these changes are complex and come with a number of restrictions, limitations and a plethora of new disclosure requirements. What did not change, however, is the antifraud provisions of the rule. In other words, be truthful.

Each Friday, we are 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 how the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) conducts its examinations, findings from the SEC’s probes of RIAs over cryptocurrencies, techniques RIAs can implement to find new clients, why some advisers aren’t following the trend of outsourcing portfolio management tasks and the surprising enthusiasm advisers have expressed toward integrating cryptocurrencies into their financial planning.

Here are our top investment adviser compliance articles for the week of Jan. 27, 2023: 

At investment advisory firms, where the work is always plenty and the day are always full, compliance teams cannot afford to just “keep up.” For a compliance team to successfully mitigate the risk of noncompliance, it has to proactively equip its firm with the appropriate compliance protocols and procedures, always staying ahead of trends. In today’s digital-first environment, that often means investigating the latest trends in compliance software and technology and implementing what’s right for the firm.

In 2022, RIA in a Box introduced additional features and functionality designed to help investment advisory firms tackles the most pertinent compliance challenges including heightened risk and increased regulations from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

As a registered investment adviser (RIA), you understand the importance of compliance. But keeping up with the latest Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requirements can be incredibly difficult when you’re also juggling client meetings, portfolio management and everything else that comes with the life of an adviser.

Without a dedicated person to keep team members accountable, how can your advisers know for sure they’re following the latest rules and regulations?

Each Friday, we are giving you our weekly report highlighting the top compliance news articles from various industry 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 continuing education requirements which investment adviser representatives (IARs) would have to meet in 2023, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) independent contractor rule and how it would affect those who are currently considered independent contractors and the mixed responses to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) outsourcing proposed rule.

Here are our top investment adviser compliance articles for the week of Jan. 20, 2023:

In late October of 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shared its vendor due diligence proposed rule, also referred to as the “outsourcing proposal” and the “independent contractor proposal.” The proposed rule would require registered investment advisers (RIA) to satisfy specific due diligence elements before retaining a service provider to perform certain advisory services or functions. The rule would require advisers to conduct due diligence and periodic monitoring for all third-party service providers and obtain reasonable assurances the service provider can and will meet certain standards. Finally, the proposal would require advisers to maintain books and records related to the new rule’s oversight obligations and to report census-type information about the service providers covered under the rule.

While the proposal has been met with opposition, it was intended to protect against potential investor harm in circumstances where investment advisers don’t properly vet and monitor their service providers. If the rule is adopted, it will likely add to the investment advisers’ due diligence responsibilities, heightening the need and importance of vetting vendors and protecting investors and clients. 

Each Friday, we are 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 how wealth management firms can keep compliant in 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) regulatory power, the agency’s decision to award a whistleblower $5 million for reporting misconduct, the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) board’s decision to ban a dozen advisers for either neglecting or misleading clients and the challenges firms may face in trying to comply with the SEC’s new marketing rule for investment advisers.

Here are our top investment adviser compliance articles for the week of Jan. 13, 2023:

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently released its Fall 2022 Regulatory Flexibility Agenda. While not all the rules included in the list have passed, the list provides a sense of the SEC’s rulemaking priorities for RIA firms in the coming year. The list also indicates what investment advisers can expect the regulators will heavily scrutinize during examinations in 2023.

We’ve examined the list and pulled out a few themes. Here is where the SEC is headed with rule making and where the agency will likely focus should all these rules pass.

It’s a new year, and registered investment advisers (RIA) can begin to add 2023 compliance conferences to their calendars!

Some investment advisers may look forward to the opportunity to network with industry professionals and connect in-person, with the chance to escape from the digital burnout. While others can take advantage of fully virtual conferences or hybrid options to stay on top of the latest industry trends and education topics from their home office. In this blog post, we list the top industry conferences for RIAs to attend in 2023.