In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission’s or SEC Division of Enforcement has issued an official announcement that stresses the importance of maintaining the integrity and following corporate controls during the said crisis.
Additionally, the pandemic might have heightened the risk of the various areas in market volatility to which the staff believes worthy of attention.
Henceforth, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not stop its off-site examinations and remote working arrangements to evaluate any significant impact of the COVID-19 and collect information on operational resiliency challenges.
Consequently, the SEC and OCIE have issued a risk alert about COVID-19 related issues that forewarn investment advisers and broker-dealers of the impending challenges, setting forth observations and practices for firms to consider.
It encompasses six general categories: protection of investor’s assets, supervision of personnel, practices related to fees, financial transactions, expenses, protection against investment fraud, business continuity procedures, and investor information protection.
This alert is a helpful roadmap for broker-dealers and investment advisors of their existing obligations to ensure the client’s assets’ safety. Firms can prefer to seek the help of TeleMessage to mitigate the potential loss of confidential information with their secure enterprise messaging.
Additionally, it also offers solutions to monitor text messages, especially since electronic means of communication prevails in modern workplaces.
Furthermore, firms should be able to review the alert and, from then, determine potential revisions of current practices, policies, or procedures to address the risks resulting from modifying the operations during the pandemic.
Given the present circumstances, it is essential more than ever for firms to make changes to accommodate the “new normal.”
To learn more, click this infographic from TeleMessage that discusses the SEC Latest Risk Alert regarding compliance issues to consider this crisis.
