SEC Issues Risk Alert to Broker-Dealers Regarding Examination Criteria

Posted on June 10th, 2024 at 1:27 PM
SEC Issues Risk Alert to Broker-Dealers Regarding Examination Criteria

From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a new Risk Alert, advising broker-dealers that their prior disciplinary history, financial stress indicators, and media reports could make them likely candidates for an examination.

ThinkAdvisor reports that the alert aims to help broker-dealers prepare for possible exams by outlining the criteria the SEC’s Examination Division may use to select firms for review and the focus areas for these exams. The alert also lists the types of information and documents that exam staff may initially request during a broker-dealer examination, including a Sample Initial Information Request List.

According to ThinkAdvisor, the SEC exam staff may consider several factors. Those include prior exam history, tips, complaints, referrals involving the firm, the length of time since the last exam, and the firm's customer base, products, and services. Specific offices or branches of a broker-dealer may also be targeted based on identified risk factors, such as customer complaints or outside business activities of personnel. 

 

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.

Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, sec

Return to Archive

TESTIMONIALS

Previous
Next

If you are being bothered by the Regulators, call Eccleston Law, you won't regret it.

Rick R.

LATEST NEWS AND ARTICLES

November 26, 2025
Former GWG Chair Charged in Alleged $150 Million Fraud Scheme as Investor Losses Mount

Federal prosecutors have intensified scrutiny of the long-running collapse of GWG Holdings Inc., unveiling criminal charges against Bradley Heppner, the former chair of both GWG and Beneficient.

November 25, 2025
Financial Advisor Accepts FINRA Bar Amidst Investigation into Alleged Misappropriation

A financial advisor affiliated with a credit union connected to Raymond James Financial agreed to an industry bar after declining to cooperate with FINRA’s investigation into allegations that he misappropriated client funds.

November 24, 2025
Kyle Busch Alleges Considerable Losses in Indexed Universal Life (IUL) Scheme

Kyle Busch, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, and his wife Samantha announced that they lost more than $8.6 million in what they describe as a “devastating financial scheme” involving an Indexed Universal Life (IUL) insurance policy.