CFPB Warning on Data Protection

cybersecurity

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued a fresh warning to financial firms that they must keep customer data safe, and cited three specific cybersecurity controls as measures that firms should implement if they want to avoid liability under federal consumer protection law.  The CFPB fired its warning shot on Thursday afternoon in the form…

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Financial Crime Compliance Costs Keep Going Up

compliance

The costs of financial crime compliance jumped sharply in 2020, as Covid-19 complications caused a host of challenges and forced lots of compliance officers to spend more money on labor, according to a new report from LexisNexis Risk Solutions. The report surveyed more than 1,000 compliance officers at financial firms around the world, and provides…

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A Suspicious Activity, Cybersecurity Mess

cybersecurity

A broker-dealer firm in Colorado has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle charges with the SEC that the firm failed to file suspicious activity reports about cybersecurity thieves trying to take over customers’ accounts. It’s a sobering example of how weak cybersecurity controls can spill over into regulatory compliance trouble.  The firm in question…

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SEC Lists Examination Priorities for 2021

examination

The Securities & Exchange Commission has released its list of 2021 examination priorities for broker-dealers and investment advisers, with a heap of attention paid to business continuity, climate change disruptions, and how the pandemic has amplified risks to cybersecurity and supervision. The SEC’s Division of Examinations (previously known as the Office of Compliance Inspections &…

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SEC’s Dubious Move on Hedge Funds

enforcement

So you might have missed this, but last week the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed exempting a large swath of hedge funds and other institutional investors from quarterly disclosure of their stock holdings.  For most compliance professionals, this news might seem obscure — but actually, it’s a fascinating glimpse into the crabbed state of SEC…

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Report: Compliance Teams Still Have Money

compensation

Thomson Reuters published on Tuesday another cost of compliance survey, this one polling more than 800 compliance executives in financial firms around the world. Among the bits of news: plenty of firms aren’t cutting their compliance staffs and aren’t cutting their budgets. For example, 61 percent of respondents said they expect their budgets to increase…

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Dispatches From Thomson Risk Summit

Thomson

Thomson Reuters held its latest Risk Summit today in New York, and while I didn’t attend in person this year, those who were there did a superb job talking about the event all day on Twitter. So without further day, here are a few of the more interesting and good points raised. (Yes, really. Sometimes…

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