MyComplianceOffice Blog

According to Compliance Expert Elin Cherry from Elinphant, “anyone who’s actually worn the hat of the Chief Compliance Officer is very aware of the concerns of CCO liability.”  When it comes to regulatory liability, the line takes a stop at the CCO. So it’s critical that the CCO is both proactive and consistent with making senior management aware of what’s going on with Compliance within the organization. According to Cherry, rigorous issue reporting combined with regular meetings sets the tone for how your management hears you and opens the door better conversations.

Many of the firms that I work with, both large and small, work with representatives that are independent contractors. I am frequently asked how technology can help firms supervise their independent reps, especially in these days of remote work. The past few weeks have seen FINRA impose significant fines and sanctions against a range of firms for supervisory failures. Firms must have processes in place to monitor activities and mitigate this risk.

During the webinar A Compliance Officer’s Crystal Ball – One Practitioner’s Predictions for 2021, Compliance Expert Mark A. Egert joined me for his take on what will be the most important compliance concerns of the upcoming year.

Mark also answered some excellent questions during the presentation, and there were a few more that we couldn’t get to because of time. I wanted to take a moment and recap of few of the questions and answers.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to be an exhibitor at this year’s FINRA Small Firm Virtual Conference. Although the format might have been different this year, the sessions were still filled with the same focus on effective compliance practices for smaller firms.

One of the key themes I heard at the event throughout the sessions was the need for consistency in policies and procedures, and for complete and consistent documentation.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) recently released their Statistical Summary of 18-Month Campaign Activity of the 2019-2020 Election Cycle. The data shows that the 2020 election cycle has so far seen record-breaking political donations across the board.

 This unprecedented level of contributions combined with stringent regulations, low donation thresholds, and past history of strict enforcement actions means that Pay-to-Play compliance needs to be a top-of-mind concern for firms of all sizes right now.