More On Legal & Compliance
from The Advisor's Professional Library- Conducting Due Diligence of Sub-Advisors and Third-Party Advisors Engaging in due-diligence of sub-advisors isn’t just a recommended best practice— it is part of the fiduciary obligation to a client. An RIA should be extremely reluctant to enter a relationship with a sub-advisor who claims the firm’s strategy is proprietary.
- Whistleblowers A whistleblower is any individual providing the SEC with original information related to a possible violation of federal securities law. The Dodd-Frank Act established a whistleblower program that enables the SEC to reward individuals who voluntarily provide such information.
The Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) recently launched a new, interactive website to help small businesses select a retirement plan for their employees.
The website, “Choosing a Retirement Solution for Your Small Business,” is available at http://www.choosingaretirementsolution.org/.
Jim Metzler, AICPA’s vice president of small firm interests, said in a statement announcing the web site's release that “the economic turmoil of the past two years has underscored the importance of sound retirement plans for employees of small businesses.”
Through the website, employers have access to a number of retirement plan options from “a simpler individual retirement account-based plan to the more sophisticated automatic enrollment 401(k) plan,” the release states. The website also describes the advantages and features of various retirement plans, the release notes, and “even businesses with as few as two employees will find options using this new online tool.”
