Branch managers can be

R elated Stories Compliance check: The sky is the limit The write stuff: How to protect yourself with a proper paper trail Paper trail, know-your-client keys to winning in court Advisor friend or foe? (from the April 2004 edition of Advisor’s Edge) “Some of our members incorrectly assume we mean trade supervision and quite frankly […]

By Steven Lamb | May 11, 2004 | Last updated on May 11, 2004
4 min read
  • Compliance check: The sky is the limit
  • The write stuff: How to protect yourself with a proper paper trail
  • Paper trail, know-your-client keys to winning in court
  • Advisor friend or foe? (from the April 2004 edition of Advisor’s Edge)

    “Some of our members incorrectly assume we mean trade supervision and quite frankly it’s a lot broader than that,” says McGuiness. “There should be a system that’s designed into an overall strategy.”

    McGuiness says one firm the MFDA had reviewed had separated the roles of trade reviews, complaints and branch reviews, failing to tie the three issues together into an overall compliance strategy.

    “It’s not a question of whether they’re hauled in, but a question of when,” says Bessner. “When they terminate advisors, or there’s an advisor complaint, there’s an automatic review of supervision, both on the MFDA side and on the IDA side.”

    When they are eventually called before their regulatory body, they will realize the importance of the compliance department. To many on the sales side, the compliance officer can seem to be a nuisance, nitpicking over the minutiae of transactions.

    “If they don’t value compliance, they don’t understand the system. What they don’t understand is that the MFDA is auditing every firm,” Bessner told the audience of compliance officers. “If you guys catch the mistakes before the client does, or if you guys catch the mistake before the audit comes in, then they’re in great shape.”

    Branch managers need to recognize that the compliance department is not out to get them, but that their role it to protect the advisor, the manager, the firm and the client. Branch managers must start valuing their compliance departments, because they are not the enemy, they protect the manager and the firm’s reputation, Bessner points out.

    She says branch managers should be thanking the compliance department for every mistake they catch.

    Filed by Steven Lamb, Advisor.ca, steven.lamb@advisor.rogers.com

    (05/11/04)

    Steven Lamb

    • R elated Stories
  • Compliance check: The sky is the limit
  • The write stuff: How to protect yourself with a proper paper trail
  • Paper trail, know-your-client keys to winning in court
  • Advisor friend or foe? (from the April 2004 edition of Advisor’s Edge)

    • “Some of our members incorrectly assume we mean trade supervision and quite frankly it’s a lot broader than that,” says McGuiness. “There should be a system that’s designed into an overall strategy.”

    McGuiness says one firm the MFDA had reviewed had separated the roles of trade reviews, complaints and branch reviews, failing to tie the three issues together into an overall compliance strategy.

    “It’s not a question of whether they’re hauled in, but a question of when,” says Bessner. “When they terminate advisors, or there’s an advisor complaint, there’s an automatic review of supervision, both on the MFDA side and on the IDA side.”

    When they are eventually called before their regulatory body, they will realize the importance of the compliance department. To many on the sales side, the compliance officer can seem to be a nuisance, nitpicking over the minutiae of transactions.

    “If they don’t value compliance, they don’t understand the system. What they don’t understand is that the MFDA is auditing every firm,” Bessner told the audience of compliance officers. “If you guys catch the mistakes before the client does, or if you guys catch the mistake before the audit comes in, then they’re in great shape.”

    Branch managers need to recognize that the compliance department is not out to get them, but that their role it to protect the advisor, the manager, the firm and the client. Branch managers must start valuing their compliance departments, because they are not the enemy, they protect the manager and the firm’s reputation, Bessner points out.

    She says branch managers should be thanking the compliance department for every mistake they catch.

    Filed by Steven Lamb, Advisor.ca, steven.lamb@advisor.rogers.com

    (05/11/04)