Displaying items by tag: DoL

(Washington)

The Biden admin is tackling some of the changes made during Trump's administration, particularly to…see the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(Washington)

The Biden admin is tackling some of the changes made during Trump's administration, particularly to environmental social governance, fair lending, and consumer protection rules. The administration will not allow a set of measures that disincentivize ESG factors by shareholder voting restrictions. They have also reinstated the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability to seek monetary penalties for abusive practices and expanded the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to gender and sexual orientation protection. Finally, the administration reinforced the SEC’s ability to investigate and subpoena companies and individuals for investigation. These measures are just some of the ways the new administration is changing the regulatory landscape.

FINSUM: These regulations could have a profound impact on companies in the near and long term. One result is more definite, that this is just one more of many ways that the Biden Admin is incentivizing ESG.

(Washington)

Brokers, those that are dually-registered, pretty much anyone covered by Reg BI, you should be on the lookout for a pending crackdown by the new Biden administration-led SEC…see the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(Washington)
Every year around this time, advisors can get a special look at what the SEC’s policy priorities are likely to be for the rest of the year. This takes on special significance this year since we have a new administration in place. The way to get the insight is to look at what focus the SEC applies to their regulatory exams, and this year they are quite interesting. SEC exams for 2021 will focus on Reg BI (not such a surprise), but also climate, ESG, and Crypto, among other topics.

FINSUM: Quite an interesting list, but one very notable absence: meme stocks/social media. This is important because some think the SEC will turn its gaze to that area, which might have delayed focus on Reg BI.

(New York)

All the regulatory focus recently has been on the SEC and DOL, and understandably so. However, FINRA plays a big role in the lives of RIAs and BDs, and it looks poised to make a big move. FINRA is currently examining Reg BI and seeing if they believe it applies to the meme stock trading situation. In particular, FINRA is considering whether new regulations need to be put in place that govern self-directed trading which is not covered by Reg BI. FINRA says it is “committed to supporting the SEC staff’s review (announced in October 2020) of the increase in self-directed trading by retail investors that is not covered by Reg BI, and the effectiveness of existing regulatory requirements in protecting investors in those circumstances”.

FINSUM: This is still in the early stages so it is hard to tell the extent to which it may affect advisors, but it is certainly something to keep an eye on.