Financial Services
Q&A: The SEC Would Love to Regulate Cryptocurrencies, But So Far, Their Efforts Are Hobbled. What’s the Current and Future State for Investment Managers?
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...
Are Broker-Dealers Acting in the Best Interests of Their Customers? ‘Not Yet,’ Says FINRA.
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.
To Ensure Anti-Ransomware Compliance in Crypto Transactions, Financial Institutions Have a Mountain to Climb
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...
Five Things to Consider For Non-Bank AML Policies
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...
How Criminal Actors Learned the Art of Cyber Warfare from Nation State Hackers
In 2016, hackers associated with the North Korean government almost made off with $1 billion from the Bank of Bangladesh. Cyber criminals were paying attention. In this excerpt from cybersecurity expert Jon DiMaggio’s upcoming book, the author runs down how North Korea established a model for targeting and robbing banks around the world, and what smaller scale cyber actors have...
Banking the Unbanked Carries Risk (That AI Modeling Can Mitigate)
Increasing financial inclusion can advance numerous UN Sustainable Development Goals and improve equity worldwide. But doing so is risky for banks, and customers with no financial history may face high interest rates regardless. Though AI can be biased, Anand Pandey argues that the benefits of using predictive machine learning to determine credit risk outweigh the dangers. Banking regulators have set...
SEC Proposes New Cybersecurity Risk Management Rules for Investment Advisers and Funds
New rules proposed by the Securities Exchange Commission could change the way the advisors and funds communicate cyber risk to investors. If adopted, funds would be required to maintain records of cybersecurity polices and procedures, and report incidents within a 48 hour window, among other measures. In a show of continued emphasis on cybersecurity enforcement from U.S. government agencies in...
Where Central Banks Stand on Digital Currency
Clamored for in Europe, already implemented in China, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are viewed by many American leaders as unnecessary. The U.K., meanwhile, expects to develop one somewhere down the road. Skadden experts run down where regulators are at with CBDCs, and what may come to pass in the near future. Rundown of Central Bank Digital Currencies The Bank...
How the Biden Administration Has Set the Table to Tackle Corruption
As outlined in a December strategy announcement, the Biden Administration intends to dramatically accelerate the fight against domestic and international corruption. With key leaders confirmed, new methods and resources outlined by recent legislation (with more bills in the offing), and the determination to coordinate across departments, the table has been set to pursue misconduct at a scale not previously witnessed. ...
Net Zero Pledges from Asset Managers Can Align Funds with ESG Goals. They Can Also Breach Fiduciary Duty and Raise Other Conflicts.
Demand for ESG-aligned asset management has induced many advisors to take the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAMI) Commitment. Lance Dial and Miranda Lindl O'Connell argue, however, that making this pledge calls for careful planning and consideration of fiduciary duties. Many asset managers are signing up for the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAMI), a commitment to support the goal...
El Salvador’s Crypto-Bro President Is Flirting with AML Disaster
The speed and haste by which El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender has opened the door for significant risk and KYC challenges. While the volume of crypto exchanges continues to snowball, the lack of appropriate AML regulation leaves businesses across sectors exposed. El Salvador’s ‘crypto-bro’ president, 40-year-old Nayib Bukele, has made Bitcoin (BTC) the central plank of his economic...
The Clean Energy Transition Is Not ESG
ESG-consciousness has taken the global business world by storm. In many circles the acronym has become shorthand for any environmentally minded business. But Doug McKeige, editor-in-chief of The Climate Capitalist, cautions that a stark difference lies between ESG compliance and the growth that will fuel the clean energy transition. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing is at an all-time high,...
