News & Events –

Bates proudly celebrates Black History Month this February. Connect with us on social media as we examine the rich legacy of Black Americans in the fields of Finance, Banking, and Investing.

Bates Group is proud to welcome Rob Ayers as a Business Development and Consulting Expert with our Money Services Business, Fintech and Cryptocurrency practice, supporting client engagement and new business outreach.

In a SIFMA “One-on-One” virtual event sponsored by Bates Group, FINRA CEO Robert Cook sat down with SIFMA President Ken Bentson to discuss FINRA priorities for 2022. The conversation offered a first glimpse at the issues to be covered in the self-regulatory organization’s Annual Exam and Risk Monitoring Report, due out in the next few weeks.

Bates is proud to participate in the 2022 New York State Bar Association Annual Meeting and its marquee event, the Presidential Summit, on Thursday, January 20, 2022. Led by NYSBA President T. Andrew Brown, the Summit will focus on two of the leading social justice and civil rights matters of the day: a reevaluation of the #MeToo Movement, and the intersection of transgender rights and sports. Bates Group Managing Director Susan Harper will moderate the #MeToo panel, and NY State Attorney General Letitia James will deliver the keynote address.

Join The SIFMA Compliance & Legal Society for a one-on-one conversation between FINRA president and CEO Robert Cook and SIFMA president and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. Bates Group is proud to sponsor this virtual event on January 19, 2022. 

Bates Group is a proud Bronze sponsor of the New York State Bar Association Women In Law Section (WILS) 18th Annual Edith I. Spivack Symposium – "Women Leaders: Driving Change by Opening Doors and Raising Our Voices" – and the Kay Crawford Murray Memorial Award program honoring an outstanding attorney who recognizes the value of diversity and mentoring in the legal profession. This two-day virtual event will be held during the 2022 NYSBA Annual Meeting on January 18 and 25, 2022. Registration is now open.

The cryptocurrency legal and compliance landscape is constantly changing, and there’s more scrutiny than ever before on the industry. Please join leading experts from Bates Group and McDermott Will & Emery for a discussion on the current virtual currency environment and what you need to know for your business as we kick off 2022.

Just before Christmas, the SEC issued new guidance on compliance with the broker-dealer/investment adviser-mandated Client Relationship Summary Form (“Form CRS”). The release provides significant detail on disclosure topics as well as the content, format and posting requirements for the Form. In this article, we review the latest highlighted concerns and key takeaways.

Get the top takeaways to help you deconstruct the SEC's 400-plus-page adopting release of the new Marketing (and Solicitor) Rule. Read this helpful summary from Bates Compliance’s recent Webinar featuring Managing Directors and leading Compliance Consultants Linda Shirkey and Rhonda Lear Davis, CAMS, CFE. Learn about key provisions and practical ways to conform oversight, recordkeeping and disclosure requirements under the rule.

Bates Compliance Managing Director Henry “Hank” Sanchez, Esq., talks with Carlos Guillen from BasisCode Compliance about what you should consider when outsourcing compliance programs and also discusses key technology compliance solutions and the new trends we will see in 2022.

This month, the SEC Division of Examinations issued two alerts based on staff findings from recent examination initiatives. The first concerned advisers that offer automated digital investment services to their clients. The initiative was based on increases in the number of advisers operating, recommending or sponsoring discretionary robo-investment services. The targeted examination revealed widespread disclosure and supervisory deficiencies in these services. The second risk alert was a follow-up to previously issued guidance on fee-related deficiencies, compliance and disclosure issues. This new alert is based on a national exam initiative focusing on the calculation of advisory fees charged to retail clients and the adequacy of fee disclosures.

In a tally of enforcement actions taken in Fiscal Year 2021 (which ended September 30th), the SEC reported that its efforts “spanned the entire securities waterfront” to address emerging threats. The agency touted many “first-of-their kind enforcement actions” and “record-breaking achievements.” Among the emerging areas of prosecutorial interest, the SEC highlighted enforcement actions involving crypto, decentralized finance, SPACs, the “dark web,” Form CRS compliance, and unregistered electronic trading. The agency also highlighted (and linked to) “impactful” prosecutions against a host of entities.

How SEC Regulation Best Interest (“Reg BI”) became the prevailing federal standard for broker-dealer investment recommendations to clients is a long and complicated story. However, as of its June 30th, 2020 implementation date, Reg BI is the rule, which means that compliance with the rule’s requirements is mandatory and enforceable. In an unpleasant surprise for regulators and rule advocates, results from a recent NASAA reexamination initiative conclude that “broker-dealer firms still are not abiding by the Reg BI rule now in effect.” The report was greeted with strong industry reaction. In this article, Bates takes a look at what NASAA found and how it is being received.

Join Bates Group at the IMTC World Conference 2021, the signature event of the Cross Border Transfers & Payments Industry, November 16-19, 2021. Online and in person at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Miami, FL. Bates Managing Director of AML Compliance Brandi B. Reynolds (CAMS-Audit, CCI, CCCE) is a featured speaker and instructor at this conference.

Government entities have begun in earnest to address concerns over the rapidly expanding crypto marketplace. Congress has passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets issued a substantial report on a framework for regulating stablecoins. These actions on taxation and oversight are the first real steps toward regulation of an industry that SEC Chair Gary Gensler only recently likened to the "Wild West." In this article, Bates takes a closer look at the soon-to-be-new law on digital asset taxation and the proposed regulations on stablecoins amid the broader debate on crypto regulation.

Join Bates Group at the American Bar Association’s 2021 Women in Litigation Joint CLE Conference, November 17-19 at the Boston Park Plaza in Boston, MA. The conference features accomplished securities and insurance speakers, including Bates Affiliate Expert Sheila Murphy.