Miriam Rozen

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has proposed making permanent its pandemic-era remote inspections pilot before it is scheduled to expire in June 2027, according to the industry’s self regulator’s account of an early June meeting of its Board of Governors released Thursday.

More than 2,000 individuals commented on the Financial Regulatory Authority’s proposed reforms to its rules governing brokers’ outside business activities. Many of the letters’ authors sought changes to the Finra proposal.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority suspended for three months and fined $5,000 a Cambridge Investment Research broker for failing to properly disclose an outside business activity from which he received compensation, according to a letter of settlement on Friday.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has proposed making its remote office inspection program permanent, replacing a pilot launched during the COVID-19 pandemic and currently set to expire in 2027. The regulator plans to seek approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after data from nearly 1,000 participating firms showed remote inspections were as effective as onsite reviews at identifying compliance issues. FINRA is also proposing to extend more flexible oversight of advisors working from home by lengthening inspection cycles for certain non-branch locations and simplifying rules for residential offices.

Congressional Democrats are pressing the Securities and Exchange Commission on whether broker-dealers remain responsible for investment advice and trade execution when retail investors use artificial intelligence agents to manage their brokerage accounts.

Ed Blum has kept race as his focus as the director the Project on Fair Representation, an Austin-based nonprofit, which has sponsored plaintiffs suing Texas officials based on allegations of their discriminatory use of race. Blum wants to make the government and other institutions colorblind—race neutral; he has sponsored litigation for the past 20 years to make that happen.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s reforms to the expungement process appear to have slowed both the pace and success rate for brokers’ efforts to scrub customer disputes from their records, although arbitrators still grant most requests.

Wells Fargo has changed the name of its financial planning-focused wrap-fee program and raised the net worth and income thresholds clients need to meet to participate, according to a brochure filed with federal regulators on Monday.

Morgan Stanley on Tuesday asked a federal court to reconsider a ruling requiring the wirehouse to provide diversity-related information to an external recruiter who is Black and had accused the firm of race discrimination.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority twice this month has taken steps aimed at reducing brokers and their firms’ regulatory obligations when sending communications to clients and prospects.