September 20, 2018

Drive Speed to Market with Change Management

You know change is constant, and so do we. In this post, we share how an effective change management program can help your organization improve the effectiveness of change and increase employee engagement.

July 30, 2018

Staying Ahead of Regulatory Change

There are many compliance rules and regulations to track in our industry. With 54 regulatory bodies and hundreds of different carriers with their own appointment rules, compliance quickly becomes a complicated web of information to understand and track.

June 29, 2018

Carrier Regulatory Mid-Year Update

At the beginning of each year Vertafore and SILA partner to bring you the Running Start Webinar series, for compliance information you need to gain an edge and hit the ground running. You can watch the on-demand webinar here.

March 21, 2017

Q1, 2017 Regulatory Recap

We have a short list of updates from the first quarter of 2017 that you should be aware of!

March 6, 2017

Outside Business Activity Best Practices

In the securities industry, FINRA requires that all registered representatives disclose any outside business activity (OBA) including compensation that is earned outside of the scope or relationship of their firm. The goal is to ensure that these activities aren't interfering with the firm or affecting clients in any way. But what is considered an OBA? How do reps ensure that they are complying with this rule? What practices should your businesses follow to ensure you're effectively monitoring and supervising your team...

January 12, 2017

Q4, 2016 Regulatory Round Up

In closing 2016, we have a short list of updates from Q4 that you should be aware of!

By: Holli Bratt and Leslie Kosal

December 8, 2016

The Clash, The DOL Fiduciary Rule, & The New Administration

In light of FINRA's recent focus on conflicts, how many broker-dealers and other investment firms are singing the tune?

"Should I stay or should I go now?"

By: Neal Hamilton

October 7, 2016

Q3 Regulatory Recap: What's New and What's to Come

State by state changes you should know, and updates on NARAB II, the CLAIM Act, Fiduciary Rule, and more!

By: Holli Bratt and Leslie Kosal

July 14, 2016

Mid-2016 Regulatory Round Up

As usual around the middle of the year, we're seeing a LOT of upcoming law changes, so we've compiled a quick state-by-state list of some things you may want to be ready for or be aware of...

By: Holli Bratt and Leslie Kosal

June 1, 2016

Anatomy of a Regulatory Change – Pt.5: Communication is Key

Earlier we mentioned that "communication is key", but we described the Vertafore communications loop only. What about you? When a regulatory change occurs, who do you need to inform? There are several key players that you should make sure you are working with so that things don't go wrong...

By: Patrick Masi

June 21, 2016

Anatomy of a Regulatory Change – Pt.4: Data Impacts and Process Changes

So we've proactively monitored industry sources to see a regulatory change coming, and we've updated our operational practices so that our team knows how to deal with the changes to compliance procedures. We've done a lot to get this far, but things are about to get really technical, really fast...

By: Patrick Masi

June 14, 2016

The Buzz from FINRA Conference 2016

The FINRA Annual Conference is an excellent place for expanding your understanding of securities regulations and how to implement them at your firm. Although I have been with the Sircon solutions team at Vertafore for quite some time, this was my first year attending the conference. I?ve only recently become involved with...

By: Chris Gillespie

May 17, 2016

Anatomy of a Regulatory Change – Pt.3: Compliance Best Practices

As Leslie mentioned in the previous post, there are several existing resources and groups that can help you monitor change. However, once you're aware of a potential change or know that a law, statute, rule, or regulation will require change in your business processes, then it is time to act/react. In being responsive, there are three stages including pre, during, and post-change that may have several steps and action items that you should be ready for...

By: Holli Bratt

May 10, 2016

Anatomy of a Regulatory Change – Pt.2: How to Be Proactive

In Pt. 1: Understanding the Regulatory Change Process, Tim Owen introduced the complex web of interactions associated with regulatory change. In this installment, we're going to examine the beginning of that web. Whether a change is legislative, operational (rules and regs), or technical, the process starts well before the change goes into effect. Proactive monitoring is the first step towards...

By: Leslie Kosal

April 19, 2016

Anatomy of a Regulatory Change – Pt.1: Understanding the regulatory change process

I talk to our customers all the time about the importance and difficulties of effectively and efficiently adapting to regulatory changes. Whether it's a regulator, agency, education provider, securities firm, or carrier customer, the same question often seems to surface: What's so hard about it? Here's the short answer. A regulatory change generates an extensive web of dependent and inter-connected changes across all the...

By: Tim Owen

November 24, 2015

FINRA Rule 3110(e): How Pro-active Monitoring Can Help You Comply

At the recent SILA National Education Conference, the update to FINRA Rule 3110(e) and its resulting burden placed on member firms, generated quite a bit of chatter during the FINRA sessions. As you are likely aware, FINRA has been using a public records search vendor to identify potentially missing disclosures and then notifying the firms to address any discrepancies immediately. In most cases...

By: Doug Vincens

September 22, 2015

5 Things You Need to Know About Recent Regulatory Changes and Proposals

With a regulatory environment that is constantly changing, Vertafore's Sircon solutions team monitors updates for impacts to operations and technology. This year in particular, there have been a high number of regulatory changes and proposals driven by policy goals and the goal to improve regulatory uniformity.

By: Tim Owen

May 06, 2016

Fiduciary Rule: Why the industry remains uneasy

The fiduciary rule has been the topic of the financial services industry for quite some time, but now that it has been approved, industry concerns continue to increase. For those that are unfamiliar with the rule, here's the quick scoop: The rule, according to investment news, "requires that brokers act in clients" best interests"when providing retirement planning advice. Although many financial advisors...

By: Tim Owen

June 24, 2015

Producer Licensing Law Changes in Texas and NARAB II

As many legislative sessions wrap up, one of the more significant changes that you should be aware of is Texas' advance towards producer licensing uniformity. If you got a chance to check out our most recent post, A Call for Continuing Education Uniformity, you may already be aware of the difficulties caused by non-uniformity and the importance of driving change. This law, which just passed in legislature, will move Texas producer licensing closer to national uniform standards. The specif...

By: Leslie Kosal

January 13, 2015

NARAB II Signed Into Law by President

The National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers Reform Act (or NARAB II for short) has passed both the House and the Senate and is now awaiting a presidential signature to be made into law