Financial Services

Racial and gender diversity in the asset management industry lags notoriously behind broader workforce statistics, especially when it comes to individuals in investment positions. Illumen Capital’s Katie Twomey breaks down the issue and offers concrete recommendations for financial services organizations. We know that diverse-owned firms represent just 1.3% of the $69.1 trillion in assets under management within the asset management...

Rather than an exhaustive dossier of rules and regulations providing next steps for crypto firms, President Joe Biden’s March 9 crypto executive order was more akin to “a plan to make a plan.” Timelines for feedback have been established, along with the administration’s intention to protect consumers. MirrorWeb's Harriet Christie explores what it all means for consumers and the industry....

In our hot housing market, the only concern for the typical real estate professional is getting the highest dollar they can for a property. But possible new rules targeting illegal cash could remake the regulatory landscape in real estate, changing things for buyers, sellers and agents. In a recent Instagram post, Ryan Serhant, celebrity real estate agent and star of...

The SEC’s prosecution of chief compliance officers remains a fraught and controversial topic. A recent announcement of an enforced settlement with a financial advising firm and its CCO could raise even more questions about the role of CCOs and what standards the SEC uses in sanctioning them. Two Eversheds Sutherland partners give us a close read of the SEC’s order...

The struggles financial institutions face when it comes to compliance are nothing new. And while technology is often billed as a clarifying force, that magic bullet remains elusive. Napier’s Aidan Houlihan discusses how the Russian invasion of Ukraine casts a spotlight on the stopgap solutions firms have relied on for far too long. For many years, banks have been struggling...

Companies increasingly have the advanced tools to combat financial crime, but as industry specialist Sujata Dasgupta explains, the fragmented nature of financial compliance programs often means the biggest benefits remain unrealized. Financial crime is steadily rising around the globe, not just in volume but in complexity, scale and sophistication, so it’s no surprise that the cost of compliance is expected...

Think your firm’s policies will protect against sanctions for failing to meet the books and records requirements? If your rules explicitly forbid private text or social media messaging apps but do not also describe how such a policy will be enforced, your company may be at risk. Employee use of messaging services and communication tools such as WhatsApp, Signal and...

To police financial crime, more businesses are incorporating artificial intelligence — machine learning, in particular — into monitoring, prevention and compliance programs. CCI interviewed Leslie Bailey, vice president of financial crime compliance strategy at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, who insists the most effective programs are built on a foundation of advanced analytics driven by humans. Bill Millar (CCI): What are the...

President Joe Biden signed an executive order March 9 intended to instill consumer protection and financial stability, prevent illicit uses and in general establish a founding for the development of digital assets. While the action signals the rise of new regulations for cryptocurrencies, the SEC still faces legal headwinds. To gather deeper insight, CCI spoke with Mike Seery, Senior Principal...

During its first-ever review of compliance with Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) found significant numbers of broker dealers failing to achieve full compliance. By reporting the most common deficiencies, the agency presents a guide to help industry members focus their due diligence. RumbergerKirk partner Pete Tepley walks us through it. 

With increased scrutiny from a litany of regulators, cryptocurrency exchanges and financial institutions are now required to monitor, flag and report suspected ransomware payments. Doing so calls for a range of technological capabilities and a sophisticated approach to identifying suspicious patterns in transactions. But compliance teams and the businesses that employ them face stiff consequences if they fail.  As ransomware...

Many AML frameworks are designed specifically for banks. If your non-bank organization is required to conduct AML compliance, but follows a bank-tailored policy, it can lead to numerous missteps and potential regulator scrutiny.  For many years, the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has imposed anti-money laundering compliance obligations on certain financial institutions. For these purposes, covered financial institutions include...