Eight years after the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted Rule 613, the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) has finally gone live for equity reporting as of Monday, June 22, 2020. Options reporting will also go live on July 20, 2020. One significant change since the initial adoption of Rule 613 is the speed with which… READ MORE
As a continuation of last week’s update on CAT activity, we will dive into more detail regarding a few panel comments regarding upcoming milestones found on the compliance timeline. As we pointed out last week, it has been a remarkable achievement for the industry to have arrived at the compliance implementation for the… READ MORE
As advisors build out their financial planning business, they gather a lot of data and over the years, the strategy of the firm can change. That may mean it’s a good time to change from a software application that’s more cash flow to one that’s more goal-oriented, or vice versa. As a follow-up to last… READ MORE
FINRA recently released a regulatory notice to help firms understand how their peers are responding to the COVID-19 outbreak. In this Regulatory Notice (Notice), the FINRA staff shared certain observations based on discussions with member firms about steps taken to transition personnel to a remote work environment. The observations were not offered as recommended practices… READ MORE
Oyster Consulting attended a webinar on June 6, 2020 hosted by SIFMA entitled “CAT Goes Live,” which included industry panelists from the SEC, FINRA CAT LLC, clearing firms and broker-dealers. This diverse panel conducted significant discussions about the impending compliance dates for Phase 2a and 2b for Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) reporting. Most industry members… READ MORE
Many firms are looking to improve their bottom line, and one of the ways this can be done is by updating your software. But where to begin? How do you know if it will work for your firm? What will the implementation look like? What about hidden costs? In this week’s episode of our Oyster… READ MORE
Trying to resolve issues and improve operational efficiency by aligning people and technology can lead to unexpected problems and mixed results. Whether your firm leadership wants to evaluate how the firm is running, the firm has recently undergone a merger or acquisition or is experiencing errors, losses or attrition, an Operational Assessment can increase efficiency, save your… READ MORE
