May 24, 2013 - Wolters Kluwer Financial Services today released a new readiness checklist and whitepaper to help investment advisors keep their policies and procedures up-to-date and ensure their ongoing efficancy. In compliance with the 40 Act Rules, investment firms across the industry have adopted a written Code of Ethics and instituted personal trading policies and procedures.
Yet recent headlines serve as a reminder that insider trading continues to plague financial services firms. Insider trading remains a focus of regulators, and detecting and prosecuting abuse is a high priority of prosecutors.
The whitepaper released by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services today provides compliance professionals with a distillation of the key information needed to ensure they run the right tests and perform adequate gap analysis to comply with the existing rules and regulations, such as 206(4)-7 requiring an annual review of policies and procedures. The Readiness Checklist further breaks down specific tasks compliance departments can follow in outlining review objectives, identifying exceptions, and carrying out forensic testing. The checklist is a practical guide in navigating the complex process of making sure policies and procedures are kept up-to-date and remain effective in meeting their objectives.
"This paper serves as a practical resource to help investment advisors maintain current policies and procedures and be prepared with the documentation they will need in the case of an SEC inquiry. This checklist will help those new to registration, as well as those who need to regularly review their existing processes and stay abreast of the latest requirements and best practices," said Carol Beckett, compliance manager for Investment Compliance Solutions at Wolters Kluwer Financial Services.
Examiner is an automated code of ethics and personal trading solution available from Wolters Kluwer Financial Services. Examiner helps control insider trading risk by automating Code of Ethics surveillance of employee personal trading as required by the Investment Adviser Act of 1940 and the monitoring of gift and entertainment activities. By reducing manual procedures and increasing productivity, Examiner enables compliance departments to effectively monitor all aspects of Code of Ethics compliance, saving time and providing an effective control for compliance and operational risks.
