Federal Reserve Board ("FRB") Governor Lael Brainard urged firms to be mindful of risks associated with artificial intelligence ("AI") innovation and advised regulators to remain diligent in the quest to understand and regulate the use of AI by supervised firms. In remarks at the FinTech and New Financial Landscape Conference, Ms. Brainard underscored the "pace" and "ubiquity" of AI innovation. She emphasized the benefits and potential risks to bank safety and consumer protection that new AI applications pose. Ms. Brainard said that regulation and supervision designed to focus on risks should

The Security Traders Association ("STA") offered support for, and additional recommendations on, FINRA's proposal to amend its Continuing Education program. The proposal is currently being considered by FINRA's Securities Industry / Regulatory Council on Continuing Education ("CE Council"). In a comment letter, the STA: acknowledged the benefits of requiring registered personnel to complete Regulatory Element training annually (as opposed to over the current three-year cycle following the second anniversary of the individual's registration), but expressed concern about the cost it will impose

A broker-dealer agreed to pay $215,000 to settle FINRA charges for failing to comply with close-out obligations in connection with delivery fails resulting from sales of equity securities, as required pursuant to Rule 204 of Regulation SHO. Rule 204 requires that "fails resulting from sales of an equity security be 'closed-out' by purchasing or borrowing securities of like kind and quantity" within certain prescribed timelines based on the type of trading activity related to the sale. According to the Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent, RBC Capital Markets, LLC did not close-out fail-to

SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce called on the SEC to consider alternative methods when addressing compliance infractions rather than resorting to enforcement proceedings. In remarks at the National Membership Conference of the National Society of Compliance Professionals, Ms. Peirce stated that enforcement resources should not be used on relatively minor compliance infractions, but should be saved for more serious matters. Ms. Peirce advocated for a more "subtle" approach to resolving compliance infractions, such as building norms that foster compliance, as opposed to initiating "formal

The SEC made a correction to Form ATS-N, a form relating to disclosure requirements for alternative trading systems that trade in National Market System stocks ("ATSs"). The technical correction, which amends a citation in Form ATS-N, is effective as of November 13, 2018.