2020: A Great Year of Webinars

2020 was a different year, but some things never change. MCO once again hosted several webinars to update compliance and risk professionals on the latest regulations, enforcements and industry best practices. Here are some of the highlights of what we learned from our expert speakers in 2020.

SEC Guidance and Compliance Obligations

Reg BI was a hot topic in the industry for broker-dealers and investment advisors in 2020. Paul Murdoch and Gus Macedo from MCG Consulting joined us to talk about practical steps to manage Reg BI and Form CRS along with implications of the regulation.

Another valuable discussion for investment advisers was our webinar with Duff & Phelps, focusing on the June 2020 SEC Risk Alert highlighting common issues identified during examinations.  The webinar highlighted three main areas of deficiencies noted by the SEC: Conflicts of Interest, Fee and Expenses and Policies and Procedures regarding Material Non-Public Information or MNPI.

Heightened Risks of Market Abuse

The COVID-19 crisis has seen regulators demonstrate concern about how firms are managing the heightened potential for conduct risk and protecting against market abuse. To help provide some direction we gathered a team of experts to cover the latest regulatory updates from the FCA regarding the impact of COVID-19 on Conduct Risk and compliance to Market Abuse Regulation.

The team at Gowling WLG talked about the importance of a practical risk assessment to detect and act on suspicious behaviour in the webinar Managing Conduct Risk and Protecting Against Market Abuse.

During the webinar FCA Compliance to the Market Abuse Regulation CeFPro and partners call attention to FCA expectations on managing conflicts of interest and how compliance can be enhanced to prevent insider dealing, misuse of MNPI and personal account dealing.

Improving Processes and Implementing Technology

For many Compliance Officers, the answer to 2020 challenges was to improve processes and enhance tools to better identify conflicts of interest. During the first half of the year, we saw many firms in the process of changing to a new technology platform, so we brought in Mitch Avnet, Founder and Managing Partner of Compliance Risk Concepts to talk about software transition, implementation, and Compliance process improvements.

For firms that have been using manual processes and are looking for an integrated conduct risk and compliance technology solution, we hosted a discussion with Kelly Barner from Buyers Meeting Point. She stated the importance of working with procurement during the process to find the perfect technology match and gave insightful tips for compliance officers to examine multiple vendors for a smart purchasing decision. 

Read more about identifying the right compliance technology in our blog posts below, and download our white paper for more guidance on optimizing the software selection process. 

• Avoiding Software Purchase Remorse
• Procurement Is Not Your Enemy
• Technology Helps Firms with Remote Work Compliance

Compliance in 2021

Regulators emphasize culture as part of a firm’s responsibility to avoid misconduct because an organization’s ethical culture determines whether its rules and procedures will be followed, ignored, or circumvented. With that in mind, we invited the Mizen Group specialists Patrick Kelly, President & CEO, and Deepa Keswani, Director & Compliance Advisory for a discussion on the regulatory focus on culture and how to create a healthy culture of compliance, which should continue to be a focus for firms in 2021.

To close the year strong, we wanted to give Compliance Officers practical advice and guidance for success with two webinars covering what to expect in 2021 and what needs to be done to be prepared.

• A Compliance Officer's Crystal Ball: Compliance Predictions for 2021
• Looking Back to Look Forward: Practical Guidance for Compliance in 2021

Thanks to attendees for their time and our panelists for sharing their knowledge and expertise during the year. You can find a full list of our on-demand webinars on our webinar page.

If you would like additional information on any of our webinars or if you would like to reach out to any of our partners, please contact us at marketing@mycomplianceoffice.com