Written by Don Lee FINCEN published its final long awaited ‘Customer Due Diligence Rule‘ (CDD) for covered financial institutions on May 11, 2016. FINCEN states there are four elements of the CDD that must be explicit in AML procedures. These include: (1) customer identification and verification; (2) beneficial ownership identification and...
Read MoreRaymond James fined $17 Million for AML & Prior AMLCO Fined and Suspended
Written by Don Lee FINRA announced today that it has fined Raymond James & Associates $17 Million for failures related to their Anti Money Laundering Programs as well as a personal fine for the prior AMLCO of $25,000 and 3 months suspension. The $17 Million fine was split $8 Million for Raymond James and Associates and $9 Million for Raymond James...
Read MoreFINRA warns BDs on AML & the Adequacy of Surveillance Systems
Written By: Don Lee FINRA’s Executive Vice President of enforcement Brad Bennett highlighted two trends that FINRA is seeing in enforcement during his speech at SIFMA’s AML and Financial Crimes conference. Firstly, he mentioned that firms must have an adequate system for monitoring suspicious activities. These systems must be properly...
Read MoreFINRA’s 2016 Examination Priorities and Technology
Written by Don Lee FINRA has published its Annual Examination Priorities letter for 2016. This is an annual letter for all FINRA member firms to help them prepare for upcoming examinations and helps others update their compliance programs. This year, FINRA has devoted an entire section to Technology which includes Cybersecurity, Technology Management and...
Read MoreAre you effectively monitoring your trade desk?
Written by Don Lee Today Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $8.8 Million to settle charges for prearranged trading or “parking” that favored certain advisory client’s accounts. This was done with SG Americas the US subsidiary of the French conglomerate Societe Generale who was also fined $1 Million and the broker/ trader barred for 3 years...
Read MoreBig Data, Broker Dealers and Regulators
Written by Don Lee In the recent Technology Tools for Today conference hosted by Investment News on November 2nd in Florida, Big Data was once again a topic among the financial community. The general consensus among the broker dealers present was “the additional uses of Big Data is likely to spur more attention from government and industry...
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