MyComplianceOffice Blog

During 2020, many factors have shaped the regulations and enforcement actions to maintain market integrity and place the interests of clients ahead of firms and individuals. In addition to the challenges faced by compliance and risk departments, the number of people trading worldwide has risen, pressuring regulators and compliance departments to quickly act to monitor conflicts of interest and prevent individuals from taking market advantage.

On September 23rd, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a set of outcomes and recommendations on the Market Abuse Regulation. The report has the objective to review the functionalities of MAR since its implementation in 2016 and draft suggestions to improve the regulation. The report is based on a 2019 consultation and covers buy-back programmes, the delayed disclosure of inside information, the usefulness of insider lists, managers’ transactions, the retention period of personal data among other topics.

Remote work is a part of the current normal in the financial services industry, in the short term and maybe even longer. Arizent, the parent company of American Banker, PaymentsSource, The Bond Buyer and other titles, recently released a survey polling executives to understand how firms are planning the return to the workplace for their employees.

Even as some firms have begun the process of reopening offices, the survey shows that almost 6 out of 10 employers are uncertain about the timing of when employees return to the workplace, and more than half report reluctance from their employees around going back to an in-person work environment. The survey also highlighted that 48% of employees are very interested and 30% are somewhat interested in continuing to work from home. 70% of financial services and 80% of professional services firms polled are likely to allow their employees to continue to work from home if their position allows it.

The Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently published the Risk Alert Observations from Examinations of Investment Advisers Managing Private Funds. 

The Risk Alert covers three general areas of deficiencies that the OCIE has identified in examinations of private fund advisers: conflicts of interest, fees and expenses, and policies and procedures relating to material non-public information (MNPI). The alert outlines concerns and compliance issues observed during examinations of registered investment advisers that manage private equity funds or hedge funds—and serves notice that the SEC will continue to put a high priority on customer well-being.

On March 23, 2020, the following statement was released from Stephanie Avakian and Steven Peikin, Co-Directors of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.