SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations Director Peter Driscoll highlighted key risks facing retail investors caused by bad actors and poor internal controls.
The SEC Division of Trading and Markets granted the Financial Information Forum and its registered broker-dealer members an exemption from the requirement to issue trade-by-trade confirmations for orphaned fractional share trades.
In a Compliance Advisory, the MSRB highlighted several factors for broker-dealers and municipal securities dealers to consider when evaluating internal policies and procedures.
The MSRB provided an additional resource to assist dealers in complying with their obligations under new disclosure rules on markups and markdowns on municipal securities transactions.
MSRB published investor education materials on mark-up and mark-down disclosures in municipal securities trade confirmations. The materials provide additional guidance for complying with new rules scheduled to take effect May 14, 2018.
FINRA and the MSRB issued guidance on new confirmation disclosure requirements that apply to transactions with retail customers in corporate debt, agency debt and municipal securities.
FINRA reminded member firms that funding for the Governmental Accounting Standards Board ("GASB") comes from the GASB Account Support Fee, collected on a quarterly basis from member firms that report trades to the MSRB.