4 Reasons it Pays to Comply with FINRA & SEC Recordkeeping Laws

Complying with your industry's record keeping regulations may seem like a given; yet stories of non-compliance continue to circulate in the news. Unaware of the significant harms of failing to meet regulations, many organizations are overlooking compliance as a major priority. Let's take a look at a few reasons why compliance should always sit at the top of your organization's priority list, and the costs you can avoid by doing so.

The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2004/39/EC (MiFID) came into play in 2007. Established by to regulate investment services, increase competition and enhance consumer protection, MiFID applies to all member states of the European Economic Area including banks, brokers, financial service institutions and advisers and more. On 20 October 2011, the European Commission adopted a legislative proposal for the revision of MiFID which took the form of a revised Directive and a new Regulation The European Parliament and Council reached an agreement to develop MiFR, and MiFID II to further make markets more transparent and better protecting of investors.

We touched base with our financial services client, Jason Wenk, CEO of Retirement Wealth Advisors to find out how PageFreezer has helped his business meet regulations and focus on what they do best - helping clients live more enjoyable lives with smarter financial planning.

Ever since social media first came into our lives with the emergence of platforms like MySpace in the early 2000s, it has shown no signs of slowing down. Today, over 30% of the world’s population utilizes some type of online community. In the U.S, that number amounts to 73%. Facebook itself has more active users than China’s entire population of 1.40 billion! While social media offers the benefits of extended reach, flexibility and freedom as a means of communication, financial services firms can find themselves at serious risk if they fail to archive social media content like other business communications.

Financial firms are naturally cautious when it comes to new communication technology. After all, they understand that regardless of the medium the general rule applies; they are accountable for all business communications. Plus, each new communication channel comes with its specific compliance issues that need to be figured out BEFORE any actual use.

What Is Rule 17a-3? Rule 17a-3 is a regulation issued by the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that outlines requirements and standards of retention, management, and availability of data pursuant to transactions and trading in the financial and exchange sector - with special provisions for business-related electronic correspondence. It is a well-known industry and federal fact that investors have a duty and obligation to conduct strict record management standards in their transactions of securities, including copies of blotters, account statements, trade confirmations, cancelled checks and more.