The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have announced their 2015 exam priorities for their respective examination programs. Interestingly, both the SEC and FINRA have prioritized a review of certain investment-related issues affecting the growing senior population. This focus echoes increasing national concern about the financial security of the retirement savings. The objective of both regulatory bodies is designed to implement protections for senior investors, address sales practices and suitability, and regulate broker communications with seniors.
January 21st, 2015
Millions of us gathered around computers and flat screens last night to listen to all or some of President Obama’s hour-long ‘State of the Union’ for the New Year. Everyone had their priorities to listen for – education, taxes, healthcare – but in my case, I sat listening for the one or two minutes where he might offer some further insights on cybercrime and how we might start to wage war that is tougher and smarter against attacks on a different front. Cyber threats are moving faster than we are as the news clearly shows – and we’ve got some serious catching up to do here.
January 20th, 2015
As we kickoff 2015, let’s take a look back at some late 2014 efforts that will impact the year ahead (and beyond). In the fall of 2014, the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) released its “Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2014-2018.” In this document, the SEC laid out a plan and vision that provided us access to the organization’s line of thinking and the plans that it will certainly prioritize for 2015 and the years ahead.
January 5th, 2015
What changes in financial institution fraud management will 2015 bring? Will the call center continue to be the weakest link in the fraud-prevention chain? How will the explosion of smart phones, mobile banking applications, and mobile remote deposit capture impact fraudster behavior?
December 17th, 2014
As 2014 comes to an end and we enter a fresh year, we should take one more look back at how the securities markets and regulators evolved and note how they have started to collaborate more with one another – something that really did not happen much in the past, but now seems to be more routine. In order to maintain their integrity, securities markets require a strong, vigorous, independent and fair regulatory structure. Regulators must continue to craft clear and understandable regulations and ensure compliance by all market participants.
December 16th, 2014
Transaction monitoring fraud detection systems are now commonplace at financial institutions. But what can be done to improve and prepare them for the future? One answer is to extend them to integrate with new voice biometric analysis systems.
December 8th, 2014
I think we all know by now that hackers and cybercriminals cause disruption for a range of reasons – to secure money, to cause chaos, or – in the case of the latest breed of break-in artists – to obtain various company and market data with the objective of manipulating the stock market. Besides the problems this causes hundreds if not thousands of companies, investors, law firms, merger & acquisition consultants, and boards of directors, this latest intrusion is particularly worrisome in terms of its impact on the broader economic health and viability of our capital markets. At the center of some of the latest findings is FireEye, an increasingly well-known Silicon Valley security company that recently released a report detailing a relatively new approach to gaining an edge in the financial markets, securing critical corporate information, and leveraging the data to influencing stock pricing.
December 2nd, 2014
Alternative payments are the most active and complex ecosystem in financial services today. A quick look at AngelList recently showed a bewildering 1,477 payments startups. These include many familiar names like Square (m-POS) and The Currency Cloud (international payments) to newer entrants such as Coin Drive (stored value exchange), OpenCuro (secure payments), and niche players like LeaguePals (which bills itself as the “PayPal of League Bowling”).