Compliance Insights and Alerts

September 04, 2018

ACA Compliance Group (“ACA”) announced today that, following the receipt of regulatory approvals, it has completed the acquisition of Cordium, a leading provider of governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) products and services. As of today, ACA employs nearly 700 people and provides products and services to over 4,000 clients worldwide. The financial terms of the transaction will not be disclosed.

August 29, 2018

The UK’s financial regulator recently announced 9 December 2019 as the deadline for the implementation of the Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SM&CR, or SMCR) for solo-regulated firms. With the regulation set to impact 47,000 financial firms, we answer some common questions that firms may have on the upcoming SM&CR.

August 16, 2018

With a significant increase to the number of reports ingested and the uptick in the number of firms submitting data, the FCA has been able to build a clearer picture of the behaviours of firms’ and their clients. However, the regulator is stressing the importance of reporting data quality, accuracy and completeness, with a particular focus on the following issues.

August 08, 2018

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has taken several actions to flesh out its regulatory approach to cryptocurrency transactions that are classified as commodities. There’s no doubt that US regulators will continue to publish new materials on cryptocurrencies as the year progresses. How should firms that wish to engage in cryptocurrencies prepare?

August 06, 2018

Most firms find “compliance culture” an important, yet elusive, term that is difficult to define and even more challenging to shape and nurture. However, it’s clear that a compliance culture sets the basis of behavior, integrity and accountability across an organization. But what are the core values that can help firms focus their overall efforts to build a compliance culture more effectively?

August 02, 2018

The midterm elections are a few short months away, and a number of recent administrative proceedings against both registered investment advisers and exempt reporting advisers by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) should serve as a valuable reminder of the importance of actively monitoring for risks that exposure to government entities or political parties may present. Here are helpful insights and suggested action items to help advisers mitigate these risks.