More On Legal & Compliance
from The Advisor's Professional Library- Client Commission Practices and Soft Dollars RIAs should always evaluate whether the products and services they receive from broker-dealers are appropriate. The SEC suggested that an RIA’s failure to stay within the scope of the Section 28(e) safe harbor may violate the advisor’s fiduciary duty to clients, so RIAs must evaluate their soft dollar relationships on a regular basis to ensure they are disclosed properly and that they do not negatively impact the best execution of clients’ transactions.
- Registration Requirements for Investment Advisor Representatives (IARs) When individuals launch an advisory firm, they must avoid marketing themselves or the firm as investment advisors before they are properly approved and registered. Otherwise, they are subject to severe penalties.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the newly combined NASD-NYSE regulatory agency, announced the appointment of a 23-member Interim Board of Governors on August 2. Members of the interim board will serve until the super-SRO's annual meeting on October 26, when elections will be held for a three-year Transition Board of Governors.
At the annual meeting, three small-firm representatives, one mid-sized firm representative, and three large-firm representatives will be elected to serve on the transition board along with 14 interim board members who have been appointed to that transition board.
Included on the interim board is John Simmers, CEO of ING Advisors Network and chairman of the Financial Services Institute.
