News & Events – Compliance and Regulatory Alerts

Firms participating in FINRA’s 529 Plan Share Class Initiative should act now to meet the regulator’s approaching April 1st deadline to self-report violations and submit a plan to remediate harmed clients. Bates looks at four distinct challenges facing firms as they prepare their response.

Bates Research recently conducted a Q & A session with Alex Russell, Managing Director of Securities Litigation & Regulatory Enforcement at Bates, to discuss FINRA's new 529 Share Class Initiative. Alex talks about responding by FINRA's deadline and potential pitfalls firms should avoid when preparing their response.

Last week, Bates sent a time-sensitive Alert concerning FINRA’s new Share Class Initiative -- similar to the SEC’s Share Class Initiative, except that FINRA’s focus is on 529 savings plans.

Bates has deep and proven experience and expertise in share class disclosure matters. To support firms facing FINRA’s 529 Plan disclosure and remediation initiative, Bates has created a plan that provides essential end-to-end steps and solutions to identify and address accounts and clients impacted by share class selection.

For legislators and regulators, writing rules for crypto-related assets requires balancing the tension between innovation and entrepreneurship, and between sound markets and investor protection. Bates Research has previously described some of the definitional challenges which directly affect which agencies govern crypto assets. In this article, we review recent developments in the ongoing debate over regulating crypto, including legislative proposals, and regulatory activity by leadership at the SEC, the CFTC and FINRA.

On the heels of the SEC’s 12b-1 Share Class Initiative, FINRA just announced its own Share Class Initiative. FINRA’s Share Class Initiative sets a deadline of April 1, 2019 for firms to self-report 529 savings plan share class violations and to provide FINRA with a plan to remediate harmed clients.

Bates Group has deep and proven experience and expertise in share class disclosure matters. To support firms facing FINRA’s 529 Plan disclosure and remediation initiative, we have created a plan that provides essential end-to-end steps and solutions to identify and address accounts and clients impacted by share class selection.

At the November 2018 SIFMA C&L New York Regional Seminar, Susan Schroeder, FINRA’s Executive Vice President and Head of Enforcement, discussed some of FINRA’s enforcement priorities heading into 2019. You can expect these to be included when the official list comes out in January. Read the full alert to preview FINRA's 2019 priorities.