NACVA/CTI BVFLS Conference Presentation Summary This article is a review of a session involving exit planning that was covered in a highly interactive, standing-room-only session from the NACVA/CTI BVFLS Conference in Fort Lauderdale, FL on December 14, 2023. This article is a review of the topics covered in the highly interactive, standing-room-only session from the NACVA/CTI BVFLS Conference in Fort Lauderdale, FL this past December 14, 2023. John Leonetti and Erin O’Leary from the International Exit Planning Association were invited to speak at the December NACVA/CTI BVFLS Conference. The topic of the presentation was ‘From Success Fees to Starting the…
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and Credentialing Organizations The author in this article discusses cases where members of credentialing organizations sue the organization for injunctive relief and monetary damages. He discusses the role of the arbitrator and causes that appear to prompt members to pursue redress through the court once sanctioned. Introduction As I mentioned in my first article for QuickRead, my experience as an Arbitrator includes presiding over three disputes between aggrieved members, as well as an aggrieved, expelled member of more than one credentialing organization, fortunately not including NACVA. These disgruntled and disciplined members sued for both injunctive and monetary relief. In the…
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About a decade ago, Harriet and Jeffrey Taniyama went in search of a financial planner “just to make sure we were headed in the right direction” with respect to retirement, Harriet Taniyama says. The one they found, a former FINRA-licensed advisor named Christopher Dougherty in San Diego, persuaded them that they not only had enough money to retire but also to invest in his own ventures, including an organic farm and a real estate business. To read the full article in Financial Planning, click: ‘We Were Just Conned,’ Client Says of Advisor’s Alleged $8M Ponzi Scheme.
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Under a FINRA proposal, firms with histories of misconduct would be required to set aside funds for anticipated arbitration awards. To read the full article in Financial Planning, click: New Rules for Firms that Hire Problematic Brokers.
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Riding a decade-long bull market, robo advisory firms have proved investors are willing to let complex and proprietary algorithms be at the heart of their investment advice. Assets under management at digital platforms are expected to top $1 trillion in the next few years. To read the full article in Financial Planning, click: Why Regulators Are Taking Aim at Robo Advisors.
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Advisers have a few options for protecting elderly clients from people who may try to exploit them, such as abusive family members or caregivers. Here is a look at three scenarios in which clients may be victimized and advice for dealing with each one. To read the full article in Financial Advisor, click: What Advisors Can Do About Inheritance Exploitation.
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As the financial planning industry nears a fee-only, fiduciary world, we are finally outgrowing our profession’s roots—and for the better. In the process, though, independent broker-dealers will face some important choices about their future business models. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: As Planners Outgrow Their Roots, Hard Choices Lie Ahead.
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FINRA has launched a helpline to provide firms with direct assistance and answers to general and routine FINRA related questions, as well as direct callers to the proper regulatory staff and other departments. The effort is part of its FINRA360 organizational improvement program. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: FINRA Helpline Aims to Aid Smaller Firms, but Concerns Arise.
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FINRA will hold off on raising fees for its member firms despite “revenue challenges,” according to an unusual glimpse the regulator gave into its projected 2018 budget. Projected revenue of $822 million for 2018 is relatively flat when compared to 2013, the last year that FINRA raised fees, the regulator says in its newly released budgetary summary. FINRA derives about half of its total revenue from industry fees. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: Rare FINRA Disclosure Predicts Budget Shortfall in 2018.
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Firms largely ban texting, even for logistical purposes, amid guidance from FINRA that all business communications must be “retained, retrievable, and supervised.” Securities America this week became the first of the top 10 largest IBDs to announce a program allowing its advisors to text clients. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: IBDs in Slow-Footed Race to Let Advisors Text Clients.
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I have a number of elderly clients. It’s difficult for them to come in and sign documents, and if I overnight it to them, they often come back signed in the wrong place or otherwise incorrectly filled out. To make life easier for my clients I’ve had them sign blank forms, and then I’ll fill them in as needed. I’ve never used those forms improperly, but I’ve heard that if my firm finds out I can be in big trouble. I’m doing this to help my clients. Why would this be a problem? To read the full article in FinancialPlanning,…
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Officials at the SEC and FINRA have been talking a lot lately about how they have been ramping up their use of sophisticated technologies to root out questionable conduct among the firms they regulate. It turns out that they are expecting advisors and brokers to do the same. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: Regulators Want Firms to Ramp Up Fintech Accountability.
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Identifying Gaps and Risks Valuation and financial forensics professionals and their firms often provide other services. In this article, the author discusses Anti-Money Laundering (AML) actions and which industries are at risk for violating Bank Secrecy Law and AML provisions. Many kinds of businesses are at risk for money laundering and for penalties if AML programs do not meet regulatory standards. Financial institutions—banks, credit card companies, investment brokers, etc.—are under scrutiny to comply with AML requirements as are casinos and dealers in hard goods such as automobile, boat, and airplane dealers, and jewelers. Certain industries, such as insurance and real…
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The regulator says the firm had “widespread failures” in its anti-money laundering programs for both its employee and independent channels. This is the largest penalty the regulator has dished out for that type of infraction, describes Andrew Welsch, senior editor of On Wall Street. To read the full article in Financial Planning, click: FINRA Fines Raymond James Record $17M for Compliance Failures.
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Crowdfunding: SEC Issues an Investor Bulletin The SEC published an investor bulletin recently discussing a number of rules and features related to crowdfunding. Sujan Rajbhandary, vice president and senior member of Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Valuation Group, explains the developments, risks, and reasons of interest. To read the full article in Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog, click: Crowdfunding: SEC Issues an Investor Bulletin. This article is republished from Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog. It is reprinted with permission. To subscribe to the blog, visit: http://mercercapital.com/category/financialreportingblog/.
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Dispute Defensible Best Practices, Part 3 of a three-part series In this third part, the last of a three part series, the author stresses that in order for a policy “review” or annual statement to rise to the level of a true “audit”, it needs to incorporate all elements of the above criteria. It needs to do this in a format providing actionable information. Without actionable information, a “review” cannot be meaningful in a dispute. The audit will include a rate class assessment, sustainability review and gathering of policy data. The audit report will include an Executive Summary, an Action…
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Has the Securities and Exchange Commission given M&A business brokers the “green light” to engage in securities transactions? The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a January 31, 2014, No-Action Letter indicating it would not take enforcement action against an M&A broker contemplating a securities transaction.
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“With New Firepower, S.E.C. Tracks Bigger Game,” Ben Protess and Azam Ahmed report at the New York Times Dealbook. Embarrassed after missing the warning signs of the financial crisis and the Ponzi scheme of Bernard L. Madoff, the agency’s enforcement division has adopted several new — if somewhat unconventional — strategies to restore its credibility. The S.E.C. is taking its cue from criminal authorities, studying statistical formulas to trace connections, creating a powerful unit to cull tips and assign cases and even striking a deal with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to have agents embedded with the regulator. In one of the agency’s first efforts,…