Examinations: Best Practices

You'd go a long way toward satisfying the SEC during an exam if you concentrated on (1) disclosures (2) custody (3) the accuracy of your ...

If a trader produces more than one trade error a week or if a specific client's account suffers multiple trade errors within a few days, ...

Reports from across the country describe a pattern of almost frenetic activity by SEC examiners visiting investment advisory firms in recent weeks. The top issues ...

If you get a call from someone purporting to be an SEC examiner asking for documents for an "emergency" exam, ask for the caller's name, ...

Paul Katerndahl is the kind of compliance officer who keeps his door open, so when an employee brought up a concern, he listened and looked ...

A typical CCO will be called upon to conduct investigations large and small. With today's economy, the idea of paying an outside firm to handle ...

The most difficult aspect of testing could be documenting what you do, so consider this outline as a guide: Briefly describe the test. Bullet-point the ...

One month into the reign of the SEC's new Chairman Mary Schapiro and it looks like the horses are out of the gates. IA Week ...

You should expect the SEC to show its teeth following the embarrassment around the Madoff scandal. An early indication of this new attitude came from ...

Firms could try to use attorney-client privilege to avoid disclosure of mock exams or compliance audits. The maneuver has to be legitimate, though, and even ...