Addressing conflicts of interest remains an area of regulatory focus and scrutiny. Firms need to identify and address various types of conflicts. This panel discussion will focus on Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers with institutional and/or retail businesses, and the identification and treatment of conflicts of interest in light of applicable FINRA and SEC rules and interpretive guidance. The session will help participants identify conflicts and review best practices for when to disclose, mitigate or eliminate conflicts.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify common conflicts of interest, including vendor and client perspectives, according to the duties owed by BDs and IAs
- Discuss Regulation Best Interest and draw on SEC Risk Alerts, FINRA guidance and a recent study of the North American Securities Administrators Association to discuss retail conflicts, as well as SEC OCIE alerts describing institutional conflicts for Investment Advisers
- Discuss best practices for conducting a risk assessment to differentiate institutional and retail conflicts of interest
- Determine whether the identified conflicts require disclosure, mitigation or elimination
As we have all learned from the challenges of the past year, the only certainty is continued uncertainty. This session will examine how a change in the Federal Administration may result in new financial services legislation and regulatory priorities in the areas of enforcement and examinations that in turn will impact financial services compliance departments.
Learning Objectives:
- Review regulatory change and the SEC and FINRA’s regulatory priorities under the new administration
- Examine the impact of regulatory enforcement actions, trends, guidance, and emerging best practices
- Discuss strategies to help compliance departments adapt their programs to uncertainty and a continually changing regulatory environment
- Analyze changes brought about by the new Federal Administration with a view towards the impact on compliance officers and the firms that they support