Elise W. Michael

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On March 18, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) published Regulatory Notice 21-12 (Notice), which reminds member firms of their obligations during extreme market conditions with respect to handling customer orders, maintaining appropriate margin requirements and effectively managing their liquidity.
Continue Reading FINRA Reminds Member Firms of Obligations for Customer Order Handling, Margin Requirements and Effective Liquidity Management Practices During Extreme Market Conditions

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) requires that each FINRA member complete an annual verification (the Annual Verification) of their contact information within the first 17 business days of each calendar year, which will be January 27 this year. Annual Verification falls under FINRA Rule 4517, which requires FINRA members to update designated contact information…

On January 19, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Market Participants Division (MPD) and Division of Market Oversight (DMO) issued CFTC Staff Letter No. 21-04 and Letter No. 21-05 (the Staff Letters) to extend, for a limited time, parts of the temporary no-action relief granted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which expired on January 15.
Continue Reading CFTC Staff Provides Limited Continuation of Certain No-Action Relief to Market Participants in Response to COVID-19

On January 19, the National Futures Association (NFA) issued Notice to Members 1-21-03, announcing that remote online testing is now available for futures industry proficiency. The exams include Series 3, Series 30, Series 31, Series 32 and Series 34, which FINRA administers on behalf of NFA. Tests also may continue to be taken at a local test center. The availability of remote online testing has not affected NFA’s Swaps Proficiency Requirements.
Continue Reading Remote Online Testing Available for Candidates Seeking to Take Futures Industry Proficiency Examinations

On January 27, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) of the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a statement summarizing its observations of cybersecurity and operational resiliency practices of broker-dealers, investment advisers, clearing agencies, national securities exchanges and other SEC registrants (the Observations). In its introduction to the Observations, the OCIE staff notes that cybersecurity is a key priority for OCIE. Therefore, although the OCIE staff acknowledges that there is not a “one-size fits all” approach to addressing cybersecurity, it recommends that SEC registrants assess their cybersecurity practices in light of the Observations.
Continue Reading OCIE Provides Observations on Cybersecurity and Operational Resiliency Best Practices

At the 44th Annual International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Conference in Sydney, Australia, the Chairmen of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission took part in a signing ceremony on May 15 for the IOSCO Enhanced Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Consultation and Cooperation and the Exchange of Information (EMMoU).
Continue Reading CFTC and SEC Participate in the Signing Ceremony for the IOSCO Enhanced Multilateral MOU Concerning Cross-Border Enforcement

On May 21, the National Futures Association (NFA) submitted to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission proposed amendments to NFA Bylaw 1301 regarding the schedule of dues and assessments for swaps firms. NFA Bylaw 1301 imposes dues and assessments on futures commission merchants (FCM) (for which NFA is the designated self-regulatory organization (DSRO)), introducing brokers (IB), commodity pool operators (CPO) and commodity trading advisor (CTA) Members that are approved swaps firms under Bylaw 301(l).
Continue Reading Proposed Amendments to NFA Bylaw 1301 Regarding the Schedule of Dues and Assessments

On May 21, the National Futures Association (NFA) submitted to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission proposed amendments to NFA Interpretive Notice Compliance Rule 2-9: Supervision of Branch Offices and Guaranteed IBs. The proposed amendments would replace and supersede an existing Interpretive Notice with the same title.
Continue Reading Proposed Amendments to NFA Interpretive Notice Compliance Rule 2-9: Supervision of Branch Offices and Guaranteed IBs

On July 11, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) of the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a Risk Alert to provide investment advisers and other market participants with information concerning many of the most common deficiencies that OCIE staff has found in recent examinations of investment advisers’ compliance with their best execution obligations under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”). The Advisers Act best execution obligation requires an investment adviser to execute securities transactions for clients in such a manner that the client’s total costs, or proceeds in each transaction, are the most favorable under the circumstances taking into consideration the full range and quality of a broker-dealer’s services including, among other things, the value of research provided as well as execution capability, commission rate, financial responsibility, and responsiveness to the investment adviser. Furthermore, an investment adviser should periodically evaluate the execution quality of broker-dealers executing their clients’ transactions.
Continue Reading OCIE Issues Risk Alert on Compliance Issues Related to Best Execution by Investment Advisers

On June 5, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management staff (Staff) updated its “Staff Responses to Questions About the Custody Rule” (Custody Rule FAQs). The Custody Rule FAQs address questions regarding Rule 206(4)-2 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the “Custody Rule.” The update to the Custody Rule FAQs specifically addressed concerns regarding the Staff’s February 2017 Guidance Update titled: “Inadvertent Custody: Advisory Contract Versus Custodial Contract Authority” (Guidance Update). The Guidance Update indicated that investment advisers may inadvertently have custody (Inadvertent Custody) of client assets due to provisions in a separate custodial agreement entered into between its advisory client and a qualified custodian that allow the investment adviser to instruct the custodian to disburse, or transfer, client funds or securities.
Continue Reading SEC Releases Updates to Custody Rule Frequently Asked Questions