NEWS ARCHIVE
Artificial Intelligence: Use and Oversight in Financial Services
On May 19, 2025, the U.S. General Accountability Office ("GAO") published and publicly released GAO-25-107197 regarding artificial intelligence ("AI") in financial institutions.
GAO, often called the "congressional watchdog," is an independent, non-partisan agency that works for Congress.
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NASAA Proposes Amendments to the Statement of Policy Regarding Real Estate Investment Trusts
On March 25, 2025, the North American Securities Administrators Association, Inc. ("NASAA") published proposed revisions to their Statement of Policy Regarding Real Estate Investment Trusts.
The proposed revisions to the "REIT Guidelines" would update the conduct standards for brokers that sell non-traded REITs to incorporate the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation Best Interest ("Reg. BI");
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FINRA's Outside Activities Proposal
On March 14, 2025, FINRA proposed amendments to reduce unnecessary burdens regarding the requirements to report outside activities of broker-dealers' associated persons.
The proposal, contained in Regulatory Notice 25-05, streamlined these obligations to help broker-dealers focus on investment-related outside activities that present higher risks to investors and firms.
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NASAA Members Approve Amendments for Model Rule
On April 7, 2025, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) announced that members have voted to adopt proposed
amendments to NASAA's Dishonest or Unethical Business Practices of Broker-Dealers and Agents model rule (Conduct Rule).
The amendments were previously released for public comment on November 4, 2024, and they update the Conduct Rule to more closely align with the
Securities and Exchange Commission's adoption of Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI)...
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Paul Atkins Confirmed as New SEC Chairman
On April 9, 2025, Paul Atkins, President Donald Trump's nominee to be the 34th chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),
was confirmed by a vote of 52-44.
In his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on March 27, 2025, Atkins provided his perspective regarding the need to ease regulatory
burdens on capital formation; and establish a clear regulatory framework for digital assets and financial technology...
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Chrome Sandbox Bypassed in Forum Troll Espionage Campaign
In March 2025, Google confirmed that threat actors were actively exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in Google Chrome - tracked as CVE-2025-2783.
This logic flaw allowed attackers to bypass Chrome's sandbox protections by exploiting an interaction between Chrome and the Windows operating system.
The exploit was used in a sophisticated cyber-espionage campaign dubbed "Operation Forum Troll," which primarily targeted media professionals,
educational institutions, and government agencies...
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Deepfakes and the AI Arms Race in Bank Cybersecurity
Fed Governor Michael S. Barr delivered a speech on April 17th at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York entitled "Deepfakes and the AI Arms Race
in Bank Cybersecurity." Governor Barr discussed the large and growing threat of GenAI-driven cybercrime, specifically focusing on deepfakes
created using generative adversarial networks (GANs)...
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OCC Releases Letter on Information Security Incident to Supervised Institutions
On April 8, 2025, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), in accordance with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA),
notified Congress that it identified a major incident resulting from a breach of the OCC's email system. The breach occurred when an unauthorized
user accessed a number of OCC user accounts...
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SEC Warns Investors About Relationship Investment Scams
On April 16, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA) unveiled its anti-fraud
public service campaign, which warns investors about the devastating impact relationship investment scams can have on their financial future...
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SEC Staff Statement on Meme Coins
On February 27, 2025, as part of an effort to provide greater clarity on the application of the federal
securities laws to crypto assets, the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance (the Division) provided its
views on "meme coins." They defined a "meme coin" as...
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau outlines new priorities for 2025
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is rescinding its existing enforcement and supervision
priority documents, according to a memo sent to bureau staff by CFPB Chief Legal Officer Mark Paoletta...
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Updated Security Policy Templates Available on The Web
In partnership, the Cybersecurity Risk Foundation (CRF) and SANS have created a library of free cybersecurity
policy templates to help organizations quickly define, document, and deploy...
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Statement on Certain Proof-of-Work Mining Activities
On March 20, 2025, the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance issued its Statement on Certain Proof-of-Work Mining Activities. They did so as part of an effort to provide greater clarity on the application of the federal securities laws to crypto assets...
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Unanimous US Supreme Court adopts higher bar to dismiss ERISA claims
The U.S. Supreme Court on April 17, 2025, revived a class action by 28,000 Cornell University employees accusing the school's retirement plans of paying excessive fees for recordkeeping and other services...
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Regulators Reaffirm Bank Authority to Engage in Cryptocurrency Activities
On March 7, 2025, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published Interpretive Letter 1183, which is expected to clarify and streamline national banks' ability to engage in cryptocurrency activities...
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Amendments to Regulation S-P Will Likely Require Modifications to Cybersecurity Programs
The SEC adopted amendments to enhance the protection of consumer financial information by broadening the scope of information covered by Regulation S-P's requirements for covered institutions...
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Investment Adviser Compliance with Amended AML Rule is Required by January 1, 2026
An amended Anti-Money Laundering Rule ("AML Rule") will subject many investment advisers ("Covered IAs") to AML requirements,
including the adoption of AML procedures, the filing of Suspicious Activity Reports ("SARs"), and other requirements, including:
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Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit ("CETU")
On February 20, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced the creation of the Cyber and Emerging
Technologies Unit ("CETU") to focus on "combatting cyber-related misconduct and to protect retail investors from bad actors in
the emerging technologies space."
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