Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) raised concerns about a newly developed communications tool for financial institutions that may impact compliance and enforcement. In a letter sent to financial regulators, including the FDIC, the CFTC, the SEC, the Department of Justice, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and FINRA, Senator Warren requested a briefing about a communications system created and described by Symphony Communications LLC, as a way to "prevent government spying," with "no backdoors" with a "guarantee that data deletion is permanent". She asked the federal regulators for

The NFA permanently barred a financial firm, previously an NFA Member introducing broker, from NFA membership. The decision is based on a complaint authorized by the NFA's Business Conduct Committee that alleged, among other things, that the firm failed to keep accurate financial records, failed to maintain the required minimum adjusted net capital, and willfully provided NFA with false and misleading information. See: NFA Press Release; NFA Business Conduct Committee Complaint. Related news: Investment Management Firm Settles Charge That It Failed to Disclose Conflict to Clients (August 10

The Managed Funds Association ("MFA") expressed concern that the SEC's proposed amendments to Form ADV would require "certain sensitive business information about client accounts that would not be appropriate for reporting and public disclosure." The MFA complained that the proposed information relating to gross notional amounts of derivatives in client accounts would provide an inaccurate representation of market exposures and would not provide information that is meaningful to the SEC. The MFA also stated, among other things, that other separately managed account ("SMA") clients' information

In a letter to the Department of Labor, Democratic members of the Senate Finance Committee made numerous recommendations regarding the re-proposed regulations defining who is a fiduciary of an employee benefit plan or individual retirement plan under ERISA." The Senators recommended that the DOL: (i) clarify the "best interest contract ("BIC") exemption" by utilizing a more workable contract requirement and include listed options in the definition of assets; (ii) expand the capability of financial professionals to provide specific investment education on retirement plans; (iii) continue to

At a DOL hearing on a fiduciary rule proposal, SIFMA President and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen outlined SIFMA's concerns about the proposal and its potentially harmful impact on investors. Mr. Bentsen explained that SIFMA is not concerned about the best-interest standard itself, but about the proposal being far too complex and establishing a myriad of requirements that will be difficult to implement. The proposal, he said, will "result in less education, fewer choices and greater costs to investors, which is not in their best interest." Mr. Bentsen asserted that developing a holistic standard – for