U.S. Regulatory Update February 2024

Welcome to our February installment of ACA’s Regulatory Update. This month, we discuss the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) adoption of a rule prohibiting conflicts of interest in asset-backed securities transactions.

For advisers, we highlight the upcoming annual Form ADV amendment filing.

For broker-dealers, we discuss the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA’s) new rules for the treatment of home offices and its remote office inspection pilot program.

For commodity pool operators (CPOs) and commodity trading advisors (CTAs), we summarize the latest announcements from the National Futures Association (NFA) on the Corporate Transparency Act and upcoming exemption filings.

This month's lessons learned covers the Whistleblower Protection Act, inappropriate treatment of material nonpublic information (MNPI), and punishments for misleading clients. 

This edition, includes articles such as: 

• The SEC prohibits conflicts of interest in ABS transactions
• Sharpen your pencils: Form ADV updates due March 30
• FINRA Allows Home Offices to be Treated as Non- Branch Locations and Approves Remote Branch Office Inspection Pilot Program
• FINRA Issues Annual Oversight Report
• The NFA reminds Commodity Pool Operators of obligations under the Corporate Transparency Act
• The NFA reminds firms to file the Annual Affirmation for CPO or CTA Registration Exemption by February 29, 2024
• Firm pays high price for making clients agree to keep settlements confidential
• Firm pays the price for ignoring MNPI policies and compliance approval
• The SEC fines firm and partner for misleading performance data