SEC

It’s time for professional planners, as opposed to sales agents, to define themselves accurately in the public mind. To do it, you need to use key words and phrases with crystal clarity.

Meanwhile, the SEC hints that more actions could follow the $425 million in penalties levied against the brokerage firm.

Enforcement actions at the SEC and FINRA highlight emphasis regulators are placing on fees and reverse churning, anti-money laundering programs and variable annuities.

The wirehouse was hit with sanctions from the SEC and FINRA for disregarding securities rules, misusing clients’ cash and not disclosing product costs.

The SEC found that auditing or testing would likely have revealed deficiencies in controls that allowed an employee access to client information at the wirehouse, says leading compliance expert Alan Foxman.

In contentious Senate testimony, White fended off accusations that the regulatory body has dragged its feet. Again, she did not offer a timeline for implementing a fiduciary rule from the SEC.

The regulator cited security oversights that led to the theft of thousands of customer accounts.

The firm is facing a lawsuit on behalf of investors who lost money in a $350 million Ponzi scheme.

Careful steps need to be taken so FINRA won't consider it an outside business activity, says compliance expert Alan Foxman.

“The SEC is notorious for blowing through rule-making deadlines—both congressionally mandated and self-imposed, such as this,” says Micah Hauptman, financial services counsel at the Consumer Federation of America.