News & Events –

In a Field Assistance Bulletin issued on October 25, 2021, the Department of Labor extended relief through Jan. 31, 2022 on a Prohibited Transaction Exemption (“PTE”), titled "Improving Investment Advice for Workers and Retirees.” The exemption is offered to registered investment advisers, broker dealers, financial institutions, and insurance companies that “provide fiduciary investment advice to Retirement Investors.”

Join Bates at Legalpalooza, the Premier one-day virtual CLE event sponsored by the Morris County (NJ) Bar Association, on November 4, 2021 from 9:30 to 5:30 pm.

Bates Compliance Director Rory O'Connor was quoted in a recent ThinkAdvisor Trendspotter article on the surge in state-to-SEC registrations.

On October 6, 2021, in his first speech as SEC Enforcement Division, Director Gurbir Grewal urged participants at a PLI Broker/Dealer Regulation and Enforcement Conference to take a “proactive approach” and engage in real “cooperation” in order to “promote better conduct among market participants.”

On October 8, 2021, FINRA urged member firms to review and update their Anti-Money Laundering compliance programs in light of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s recently published priorities on the subject. FinCEN came out with those priorities on June 30, 2021, in accordance with AML Act of 2020, which became law on January 1, 2021.

As the news and impact of COVID-19 continue to evolve, Bates Group continues to promote the health and safety of our employees, consultants, and clients, as well as ensure uninterrupted operations during this crisis. Read the letter from Bates CEO Jennifer Stout. 

Remember 2010? Prince William and Kate got engaged. Tiger Woods apologized. BP Deepwater Horizon exploded. And Mark Zuckerberg was named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year.” Also in February 2010, the SEC issued guidance to public companies on climate change-related disclosure obligations. Fast forward over ten years later and on September 22, 2021, the SEC Division of Corporation Finance (“Division”) reminded issuers about complying with that 2010 guidance. 

Bates Group is excited to announce the acquisition of CorCom, a top AML compliance consulting firm based in Spartanburg, SC. 

Bates welcomes Kurt Wachholz as a new Managing Director of Bates Compliance. With over 30 years of financial industry experience serving in a range of financial service firms, he works closely with firm officers to identify regulatory obligations, compliance risks, and program challenges.

In September 2021, NASAA published two reports that have implications for the protection of senior investors, including an analysis of the status of NASAA’s Model Act to Protect Vulnerable Adults from Financial Exploitation by states that have adopted it or parts of it and a presentation of coordinated examination results of investment adviser firms by state securities regulators, which found “serious deficiencies” in policies and procedures to protect seniors, among other findings.

Bates Group is a proud Diamond sponsor of the Florida Securities Dealers Association Industry Outreach Program "2021: Charting A Path Forward." Thursday, September 30 in Tampa, FL.

Bates Group was awarded a Top Workplaces 2021 honor by The Oregonian Top Workplaces.

Regulators have moved from statements to guidance to alerts and now to enforcement and rulemaking in their efforts to gain some degree of control over the exuberant Special Purpose Acquisition Company (“SPACs”) marketplace. As highlighted in our white paper, published in late April 2021, the SEC had been prolific in stating its concerns about SPACS.

Join Bates Compliance leaders Linda Shirkey and Rhonda Davis for this complimentary webinar as they examine key provisions of the new marketing rule, address investment adviser concerns, and discuss practical ways to conform oversight, recordkeeping and disclosure requirements under the rule. Wednesday, September 29, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. ET.

FINRA remained busy through the end of Summer with several important regulatory actions. New actions included issuing updated guidance on supervision of third-party vendors, requesting feedback on a report by the Office of Financial Innovation (“OFI”) concerning broker-dealer approaches to cloud computing, and raising additional alarms about a phishing campaign using fraudulent FINRA email domains.

New FINRA rules for protecting investors from brokers with a significant history of misconduct went into effect on September 1, 2021. The new rules, adopted on March 10, 2021, broaden authority to discipline associated persons, impose stricter supervision on firms, and mandate greater disclosure in various proceedings.