By the end of the year, a goal of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is to examine 1,000 broker-dealers for Reg bi compliance, according to Bill St. Louis, head of Finra’s National Cause and Financial Crimes Detection Program, reported advisorhub.com.
That’s no small potatoes, considering that the total would account for about a third of the organization’s approximately 3,000 member firms. Compliance flaws in half of its exams were linked to the rule, which is more than two years old, last year.
An update of an annuity sales standard was adopted by Georgia, Illinois and Tennessee, according to thinkadvisor.com. It was developed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
The update was designed by the NAIC to abet the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation Best Interest sales standard. Its been adopted by a minimum of 33 states.
Failure by enough states to uniformly adopt the update might mean that the SEC could lasso the ability to oversee some aspects – at the minimum -- of sales and fixed annuities, some regulators think.
