The RIA's Compliance Solution Book: Answers for the Critical Questions

by Elayne Robertson Demby

Overview

Registered investment advisers are accustomed to regulatory scrutiny. But the pressure to understand changing compliance regulations and to meet the requirements they impose has never been more intense. A range of scandals and abuses—from the laundering of terrorist funds to mutual fund trading shenanigans—has caused the Securities and Exchange Commission to tighten regulation and step up enforcement. Unfortunately, definitive compliance information—the kind that can save advisers precious time and spare them serious trouble—has not been easy to find. Until now.

The RIA's Compliance Solution Book gathers the information needed most and puts it all in one place. Here advisers will find plain-English translations of the rules that regulate such issues as:

• advisory contracts and fees
• advertising and client communications
• RIA compliance programs and codes of ethics
• custody of customer accounts
• completing, filing, and amending Form ADV
• selecting brokers and executing trades

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781576601921
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	05/01/2006
Series:	Bloomberg Financial , #57
Pages:	316
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Elayne Robertson Demby, JD, is a nationally recognized journalist. Trained as an attorney, she is sought out for stories that break down complex legal material into simple, understandable English for the layman. Demby has worked in a number of prestigious New York law firms, including Proskauer Rose Goetz & Mendelsohn and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.

In her work as a journalist, she specializes in business and legal issues such as securities law, tax law, finance, executive compensation, financial planning, human resources, retirement plans, health and welfare plans, corporate governance, nonprofits, collections and credit, and risk management. Demby’s work has been published in numerous consumer and trade outlets including the New York Times, WSJ.com, Crain’s New York Business, Bloomberg Wealth Manager magazine, Human Resource Executive, CFO magazine, Plansponsor magazine, Advisor Today, Collections & Credit Risk magazine, Treasury & Risk Management magazine, Wealth Manager magazine, and Global Custodian. After receiving her BA in economics from Boston University, magna cum laude, Demby received aJD from Fordham University’s School of Law and an LLM in taxation law from New York University School of Law.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments.
Introduction.

1 Terms and Acronyms.
2 Federal and State Laws and Other Regulations.
3 RIA Registration: What It Means, How It’s Done.
4 The Nuts and Bolts of Form ADV.
5 How to Complete Form ADV Part 1.
6 How to Complete Form ADV Part 2.
7 RIA Compliance Programs and Codes of Ethics.
8 Investment Recommendations and Fiduciary Obligations.
9 Advisory Contracts and Fees.
10 Custody of Customer Accounts.
11 Selecting Brokers and Executing Trades.
12 Personal Securities Trading and Reporting.
13 Voting Client Proxies.
14 Record-Keeping Requirements.
15 Advertising and Client Communications.
16 Referrals.
17 ERISA Plans.
18 Soft Dollars.
19 Protecting Clients’ Privacy.
20 Money Laundering.
21 Supervising Employees.
22 SEC Examinations and Enforcement Actions.

Appendix A. Contact Information for the SEC and Securities Regulators.
Appendix B. Form ADV.
Appendix C. Adviser Designation requirements.

Index.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A great book. It's extremely valuable to both the experienced and the soon-to-be adviser. If I'd had it when I was setting up my RIA firm, it would have saved me hundreds of dollars in legal fees. Now, as an experienced adviser, The RIA's Compliance Solution Book can save me thousands in fees. Demby's book is an important tool to preventing many compliance problems and heading off potential noncompliance fines. I learned a lot while reading it. The Q&A format is great and very easy to read. Overall, a very useful, all-in-one guide book"
—Jeff Broadhurst, MBA, CFA
Financial Advisor and President of Broadhurst Financial Advisors, Inc.
 
"If someone could define all those murky terms regulators like to use and put them in one place with a clear outline of all the regulatory issues advisers must address along with a road map for getting all the answers into an ADV, that resource would look a lot like The RIA's Compliance Solution Book."
—David J. Drucker, MBA, CFP
President, Drucker Knowledge Systems

Editorial Reviews

"Ideal for both small and large practices as a concise refresher for many compliance topics you may have forgotten."
- NAPFA Advisor

"As a reference book and a handy source on compliance, this book is a worthy addition to every RIA's shelf."
- MorningstarAdvisor.com

From the Publisher