About

You are your broker-dealer’s or registered investment adviser’s Chief Compliance Officer. Congratulations, you are a member of a community of professionals who administer their respective firms’ compliance programs in a heavily-regulated industry. Heck, you might be your firm’s entire Compliance Department. It is a tremendous responsibility.

The SEC, FINRA and the state regulators have placed significant demands on our industry. Helping your firm discharge its current obligations and implement the new ones makes you feel at times that you are trying to boil away the ocean.

Your regulator has just contacted your firm for whatever reason and seeks documents and additional information. You are concerned about what this means and what might happen next.

An angry client has just brought an arbitration claim against your firm. You need to defend it.

What do you do?

I have been there. In fact, I still am. I am a lawyer and an outsourced CCO. (Yes, I am the guy that volunteered to be regulated by two industries; make of it what you will.) I offer solutions to broker-dealers, broker-dealers, registered investment advisers and their associates to help them meet their regulatory obligations. Not only do I offer these solutions, but I use them in my own practice. In other words, I eat my own cooking.  Contact me if you or your firm:

• Need to test or enhance your supervisory procedures or systems to respond to regulatory developments;
• Have to defend a FINRA, SEC or state regulatory exam or investigation;
• Have any sort of regulatory reporting obligations, including to the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT);
• Are contemplating commencing, or currently defending, an arbitration claim before FINRA Dispute Resolution;
• Seek to expunge matters from your record on the Central Registration Depository (CRD);
• Need a Chief Compliance Officer (I have an active Series 24); and/or
• Are facing any other legal or compliance issue affecting broker-dealers, registered investment advisers and your associates.

My commentary on these topics and more concerning the financial services industry can be found on my blog.   Additional information about me and the industry is available on my Resources page.  Please contact me with any questions.

Because you want to spend more time serving your clients, not your regulators.

I am admitted to practice law in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia and can appear in almost any jurisdiction for regulatory or arbitration matters.

You may reach me at rps@ryanpsmith.com or 571.317.0605.