Branch Office

It’s no secret that FINRA takes very seriously private securities transactions by personnel affiliated with broker-dealers (IA Watch, March 4, 2015). Recently, it has been ...

Dan Haynes, CCO of Buckingham Asset Management ($5.83 billion AUM) in St. Louis, does an inspection of each of the firm’s five branches every year, ...

If you supervise branch offices and want to be certain you’re doing it right, act like a FINRA examiner. The SRO’s interest in branch office ...

IA Watch has obtained several recent SEC document request letters (see related story). They vary. Most are for never-been-examined firms and included on-site visits. One ...

Broker-dealers that sell mutual fund "L" shares to variable annuity clients should anticipate heightened questioning by SEC examiners next year. Same thing if you sell ...

Consider conducting unannounced inspections of your branch offices on a random basis - as opposed to relying just on a triggering event. That's a change ...

The SEC and FINRA are giving dually registered firms a heads up. Some firms' branch office inspections programs have been insufficient. So, when the regulators' ...

The branch inspection process is a critical component of a comprehensive risk management program and can help protect investors and the interests of the firm. ...

There's no standard definition to distinguish independent contractors from "employees" and the interpretation can vary depending on what entity is making the decision. The IRS ...

Among the hundreds of firms that have stamped their John Hancock onto the six-year old broker protocol are an increasing number of RIAs. The trend ...