Entries by Mitchell Atkins, CRCP

Mitch Atkins to Speak at FMA 2025 Annual Securities Compliance Seminar in Fort Lauderdale

I’m pleased to announce that I will be speaking at the Financial Markets Association’s (FMA) 34th Annual Securities Compliance Seminar, scheduled for April 23–25, 2025, at the B Ocean Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. As a panelist on the opening session, “Key 2025 (and Beyond) Legislative and Regulatory Initiatives,” I’ll join industry experts to discuss […]

Navigating Regulatory Exams in the Age of Best Interest

I am thrilled to invite you to the Navigating Regulatory Exams in the Age of Best Interest webinar, hosted by InvestorCOM on October 17 at 1 PM ET. I’ll be joining a distinguished panel of industry experts who will provide insights into how technology is transforming compliance practices. Mitchell Atkins will be joining a distinguished […]

Join Mitch Atkins on a Regulation Best Interest Panel

Regulation Best Interest has challenged member firm compliance and sales staff over the two years since implementation. Recently, the SEC filed its first enforcement action involving alleged violations of Regulation Best Interest. Effective compliance is more important today than ever before. More and more firms are turning to technology solutions to help with compliance in […]

Join Mitch Atkins at the FINRA Arbitration and Enforcement Regional CLE Program

Join Mitch Atkins, Founder and Principal, FirstMark Regulatory Solutions, Inc., at the Third Annual American Bar Association Litigation Section’s Current Issues in FINRA Arbitration and Enforcement Regional CLE Program. Atkins will be presenting on the third panel: In-House Insomnia:  What Keeps Lawyers and Compliance Officers Up at Night? The panel will cover key topics of […]

Mitch Atkins to Speak at 2019 FMA Securities Compliance Seminar

Mitch Atkins, FirstMark’s founder and principal will be speaking on the Key 2019 Legislative and Regulatory Initiatives panel at FMA’s 2019 Securities Securities Compliance Seminar. The panel will take place on Wednesday, May 1, 2019 at 11:30 a.m. in Fort Lauderdale. The panel will cover areas of enforcement focus in the financial industry. Additionally, the […]

Atkins Discusses FinCEN CDD Rule on FINRA AML Panel

Don’t miss the the AML Challenges panel at the 2018 FINRA Annual Conference on May 23, 2018 in Washington DC. FirstMark’s founder, Mitch Atkins, will present as a panelist. One of the key topics to be discussed is the FinCEN CDD Rule. The rule became fully effective May 11, 2018. If you’re ready, or even if […]

AML Surveillance – Major FINRA AML Case

Yesterday FINRA settled yet another major case involving AML surveillance system deficiencies. This is one more in a series of cases in which FINRA has found that a broker-dealer’s electronic surveillance systems were insufficient to detect potentially suspicious transactions. In this case, FINRA fined the firm $13 million (which was duplicated by the SEC bringing […]

Mitch Atkins Presenting at FINRA South Region Conference

Mitch Atkins, founder and principal of FirstMark Regulatory Solutions, will present at the FINRA South Region Compliance Seminar in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on December 6, 2017.  Mitch Atkins will present as a panelist on FINRA’s panel entitled Writing and Maintaining Written Supervisory Procedures. The panel will discuss the FINRA’s Supervision Rule (Rule 3110), and in […]

Epic BD AML Compliance Failure Yields Another Record Fine

On Monday, December 5, 2016, FINRA announced yet another record fine against a broker-dealer for AML compliance failure. This action follows another just seven months ago in which FINRA fined a broker-dealer complex $17 million for AML compliance failure. There are numerous messages here which you can read about in my LinkedIn article that analyzes […]

FINRA Tolerance for AML Compliance Failures Fading

AML compliance failures are starting to get the “zero tolerance” message from FINRA. It recently announced its largest fine ever against two firms for AML compliance failures, including the suspension of the AML compliance officer. Mitch Atkins, a former FINRA official breaks down this action in a LinkedIn article. In reality, these sanctions are not too […]