(Washington)

The SEC is about to crackdown on dually-registered advisors. The regulator seems to be upset with how some firms represent themselves and their services to clients. Because of Reg BI, firms are now required to explain their business model in Form CRS. According to industry lawyers like Issa Hanna of Eversheds Sutherland, this made “distinguishing between broker-dealer and advisor services" a “hot regulatory topic”. According to Hanna, “There's an interest in the regulatory community in ensuring that dual registrants are properly distinguishing how they describe their broker-dealer advisor services and not confusing retail customers about the service delivery models and which standards of conduct, etc., apply to the types of services they're providing”. Firms need to set up good firewalls between their businesses so that if they get investigated, they have a defensible position.

FINSUM: This feels like just one of many areas the SEC is going to start to crack down on under the Biden administration.