Financial Planning Corporation is a regulated financial planning firm founded 40 years ago, gaining coveted Chartered status in 2008. As the U.K. financial regulator, the FCA promises to clamp down on unregulated “finfluencers” on social media. Moira O’Shaughnessy, managing partner and head of risk and compliance at FPC, explains why her firm takes a deliberately cautious approach to social media communications.
Regulatory Policy
Posted inFinancial Services
Not just for the rich: SEC may make closed-end funds available to retail investors
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins indicated he favors changing the agency’s requirement that only the wealthy can invest in so-called “closed-end” private equity funds and hedge funds.
Posted inEurope
Citing free speech impingement, Trump administration wants EU to scale back Digital Services Act
The Trump administration is preparing to ask the European Union to alter or water down its rules on content moderation on social media, claiming that they hurt the competitiveness of American technology companies.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
A forgotten SEC case against Coinbase returns in a shifting crypto landscape
After dismissing its lawsuit against the crypto exchange Coinbase in March, a second investigation into the exchange by the Securities and Exchange Commission has surfaced, according to a report from the New York Times. This comes as a bit of a surprise after the Trump administration has been scaling down regulatory enforcement on cryptocurrency companies in favor of scaling up mainstream adoption.
Posted inRegulatory Policy
CFPB pulls data broker rule in win for industry, setback for consumer advocates
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has pulled back a draft privacy rule that would have required businesses to take more steps before selling consumers’ financial and personal data.
Posted inTechnology
Calls for audit reforms intensify after hackers attack Harrods and other top UK retailers
Cyberattacks on major UK retailers, including Marks & Spencer, Harrods and Co-op, left the companies scrambling to reassure customers and staff about stolen data, pushing issues of cybersecurity and cyber resilience back into the national debate. Now the question is whether compliance managers should expect more technology regulations, or will legislators focus on corporate governance, internal controls and resilience.
Posted inRegulatory Policy
With “stroke of a pen,” CFPB withdraws controversial guidance docs issued under Dems
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has rescinded 39 guidance documents that had provided insight into the regulator’s thinking on a host of topics, including enforcement practices and how companies should handle customer complaints.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Regulatory uncertainty clouds the future of FTC’s Click to Cancel rule
The Federal Trade Commission was set to begin enforcement of the “click to cancel” rule on May 14, but a new announcement from the agency pushed that date to July 14. As is the case with many of the regulatory decisions by the Trump administration, it’s unclear whether the agency intends to enforce the rule at all.
Posted inRegulatory Policy
Trump EO seeks to undo federal consent orders against businesses over lending, hiring bias
Businesses under consent decrees for violating federal anti-discrimination laws, including fairness in lending and hiring laws, may be off the hook under a sweeping executive order (EO) issued by President Donald Trump last month. The EO, aimed at furthering his agenda of dismantling protections against discrimination, says all agencies “shall evaluate” existing agreements by the end of July. The sprawling order, “Restoring equality of opportunity and meritocracy,” issued April 23, could bring pending investigations to a halt as well.
Posted inTechnology
CFPB drops Google Payment oversight, the latest enforcement pullback under Trump
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continued advancing President Donald Trump’s pullback of corporate oversight last week, as it halted supervision of Alphabet’s Google Payment subsidiary. The move followed similar efforts by the Trump administration to weaken government enforcement efforts, particularly concerning digital currencies.
