Financial Services

Financial institutions have enjoyed a fairly easygoing regulatory environment in recent years. Combined with strong economic performance, that’s meant a certain amount of coasting when it comes to enhancing their compliance management systems. But the time for relaxation is over, and as Capco’s Pamela Buckley explains, institutions need to take a hard look at all levels of their compliance programs....

Despite widespread efforts to ban problematic communication apps like WhatsApp and WeChat, only 3% of compliance leaders strongly believe those bans are effective, according to new research from compliance software provider Global Relay. Global Relay’s small survey of 39 global compliance officers, mostly in the financial services industry, found that while 59% had banned WhatsApp and similar apps as a...

A newly issued SEC Division of Examinations risk alert indicates that newly registered advisers may be failing to uphold several of their legally mandated requirements. Nutter’s Mark Tarallo digs into the agency’s alert — and what advisers need to know. For the past several years, the SEC’s Division of Examinations has prioritized examining newly registered advisers within a reasonable period...

Insights from investment industry sponsors, investors and service providers LP and GP Relations in Flux Amid Economic Volatility 2023 Investment Funds Outlook About this report from Barnes & Thornburg: After a several-year stretch of record gains and robust capital inflows, private investment funds are now navigating increasingly volatile economic terrain. As has been well publicized, 2022 saw double-digit decreases in...

Social selling gives financial advisers an effective way to connect with potential clients and build a rapport with them as a way of generating new customers, but it also comes with compliance requirements that, if not managed properly, can become burdensome and potentially costly to a firm. SafeGuard Cyber’s Chris Lehman digs into the SEC’s rules and shares advice for...

The SEC is continuing its focus on cybersecurity regulations by announcing three new proposed rules and re-opening the comment period on an additional proposed rule from last year. Each of the proposed rules focuses on entities in the financial sector, including broker-dealers, investment advisers, investment companies and other entities regulated by the SEC. A trio of experts from Baker Donelson...

It’s been the better part of two decades since a relatively common risk management mechanism — an interest rate swap — served as a scapegoat for a long, deep economic recession. Could our current financial crisis, which just this week saw First Republic Bank seized by federal regulators and subsequently taken over by JP Morgan, bring vindication to the humble...

How can we stem the tide of dirty money flowing through financial institutions? Proposal for New Regulation A Plan to Inhibit Significant Money Laundering Offenses and Improve Enhanced Due Diligence About this whitepaper from Robert Mazur:Take a very close look at the dozens of deferred prosecution agreements and indictments pled to by major banks when they’ve been accused of anti-money...

The asset management industry isn’t exactly known for diversity in its ownership ranks, and neither are the outsourced service providers firms often engage. Katie Twomey of Illumen Capital argues for diversity across the board, even in organizations without traditional supply chains. Diverse-owned firms represent just 1.4% of the $82 trillion in assets under management within the asset management industry. While...

Heightened regulatory scrutiny is pushing compliance spending up at financial services firms, according to a survey by tech provider SteelEye, which reported that 76% of finserv firms elevated compliance expenditures over the past year. The survey, part of SteelEye’s annual report on compliance practices, included responses from more than 300 senior compliance decision-makers in financial services firms in the U.S.,...

After a Covid-related grace period, new contract accounting standards — ASC 606 — are in effect for both public and private companies. Tom Zauli of Softrax, explores what you need to know about meeting accounting standards in an uncertain economy. In 2020, the U.S. economy entered a recession resulting from the global Covid pandemic. This recession was different in length...

With federal investigations pending, the autopsy of Silicon Valley Bank and resulting cascade of bank failures is only just beginning. Experts have suggested a faulty risk model is partially to blame, and while sharing customer data with its peers likely would not have saved the bank, business data analyst Sukirt Singh suggests SVB and other troubled banks could learn a...