Regulation and Compliance issues for Wealth Professionals can be challenging to navigate especially when the SEC is involved. Catch the latest news and analysis on compliance updates that impact financial advisors.
The lapses in record retention, fingerprinting and failing to oversee the drafting of consolidated reports led to 1.5 million costumer communications being deleted and a former rep running a Ponzi scheme, FINRA claimed.
The former TDAI executive spent the last days of 2020 studying for his CFP exam and taking a hard look at the regulatory landscape that faces financial planners in 2021.
The settlement is the first action coming from the regulatory agency's 2019 self-reporting initiative for failures to oversee 529 plan share class recommendations.
The order is the latest in a recent run of SEC actions against firms alleging they failed to disclose conflicts around mutual fund share class selection.
Chair Jay Clayton touted the changes as necessary updates to requirements that had gone unchanged for decades, though some commissioners expressed concerns even as they voted in support.
While previous exams looked at 'good faith' efforts by firms to comply, next year the commission will focus on specific rule requirements that 'go beyond suitability standards.'
The agency said the firm had failed to properly oversee registered representatives' recommendations on variable annuities, mutual funds and 529 plans, affecting about 2,400 customers in total.