Introduction: When A Routine Release Signals Structural Change SEC data releases are rarely splashy. Written in neutral tones, stripped of commentary, and often dropped mid-week with little amplification, they’re not designed to provoke headlines. But they are vital. For those who know where to look, these releases trace the fault lines of market structure […]
You’re probably reading this article because someone (maybe the CCO, maybe your future self) said the words: “We need to audit our compliance program.” And now it’s your job to figure out how. Here’s the good news: it’s doable, even if you don’t have a giant audit department or a team of ex-regulators in the […]
The SEC’s 2024 enforcement numbers were never going to tell the whole story. Yes, the agency brought 26% fewer cases than the year before; but no one paying attention would call this a quiet year. Why? The Commission secured $8.2 billion in financial remedies, the highest total in its history. This wasn’t a strategy shift […]
The most valuable signal in compliance isn’t always what’s new; it’s what keeps showing up. That’s what makes FINRA’s 2025 Oversight Report so revealing. Underneath the new headlines (third-party risks, complex annuities, overnight trading) you’ll find a familiar story: firms still struggling with documentation, supervision, and suitability. But this year, the stakes feel sharper. Whether […]
When a city works well, you don’t notice. You step off the curb, and a car stops. You find shade on a hot street. Trash disappears. The lights turn red, and strangers obey. It feels like common sense… but actually, it’s design. The urban planner Jane Jacobs spent her career proving this. In 1961, she […]
Introduction: An Industry on the Move FutureProof Citywide 2025 brought the RIA community face-to-face with the pace of its own transformation. The conversations pulsing through the boardwalk in Miami Beach were focused, urgent, and refreshingly practical: How do we scale without breaking our systems? How do we adopt the right tech without losing the […]
If you want to understand where compliance is headed, follow the crowd to Washington, D.C. – or more specifically, to the IAA Compliance Conference at the Marriott Marquis. In 2025, it wasn’t just a meeting of the minds; it was the epicenter of regulatory insights, AI debates, vendor management war stories, and more acronyms than […]
Records Rule the World: Why Compliance Starts (and Ends) With Documentation As pretentious as it might sound, history is written by those who keep the records. Contracts carved into Mesopotamian clay tablets laid the groundwork for commerce. The Medici bankers revolutionized accounting with double-entry bookkeeping. Today, regulatory frameworks like SEC Rule 204-2, MiFID II […]
The stakes of trade monitoring for RIAs are high. This is not a rare scenario: an SEC audit uncovers a missing piece in an RIA’s trade monitoring process, landing them with fines and some uncomfortable client conversations. It’s a reminder of why trade monitoring matters—it keeps you compliant, protects your reputation, and avoids costly mistakes. […]
So you’ve just wrapped up a client meeting, feeling rather good about the progress made. Then, a notification pops up: an SEC audit request is on the horizon. Your mind races: Are we fully prepared? For RIAs, moments like these are common, but with the right tools, managing compliance and risk becomes seamless. Technology is […]
