Compliance

Middle market investment banking is entering a new era. Independent investment banks and boutique advisory firms are benefiting from growing demand for mergers and acquisitions, private capital raising, private placements, and strategic advisory services. At the same time, they face …

How outsourced broker-dealer infrastructure helps investment bankers, placement agents, and private market firms scale more efficiently Executive Summary Compliance has evolved from a back-office function into a strategic component of modern financial services infrastructure. As regulatory expectations continue to expand, …

FINRA’s recently released 2026 Industry Snapshot offers more than a collection of industry statistics. It provides a window into how the broker-dealer landscape continues to evolve. While headlines often focus on market performance or trading activity, the report reveals deeper …

At its March 4 to 5, 2026 meeting, FINRA’s Board of Governors advanced five rule proposals under its FINRA Forward initiative, an effort aimed at making regulation more efficient while maintaining strong investor protections. For financial advisors, broker-dealers, and investment …

What Broker-Dealers Must Know About Cyber Fraud and AML  As capital markets grow more digital, distributed, and global, financial crimes prevention has become one of the most critical compliance obligations for broker-dealers in 2026. Cyber-enabled fraud, money laundering, sanctions violations, and manipulative trading schemes …

How FNEX Supports Investment Bankers, Placement Agents, and Advisors at Scale  As private capital markets continue to expand, investment bankers, M&A advisors, and placement agents face a common challenge: how to scale deal activity while meeting rising regulatory expectations. Compliance obligations are increasing, …

The Next Phase of Regulatory Technology FINRA has entered a new phase in its long history of technology innovation, expanding its capabilities in artificial intelligence and GenAI to enhance its oversight of more than 3,200 member firms and hundreds of …

FINRA Moves to Modernize Pattern Day Trading Rules At its September 17–18 meeting, the FINRA Board of Governors approved amendments that will replace the long-standing pattern day trading rule including the $25,000 minimum equity requirement, with a new intraday margin …

Raising capital and executing private placements today requires precision, licensing, and compliance that most firms simply don’t have in-house. Building your own broker-dealer can take years and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Broker-dealer affiliation offers a faster, leaner, and …

The Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Exam is the starting point for anyone pursuing a career in the securities industry. Introduced by FINRA to simplify the licensing process, the SIE exam establishes baseline knowledge in markets, securities products, and regulatory compliance. …

Mergers and acquisitions are among the most complex transactions in business. They bring together buyers, sellers, advisors, legal counsel, and investors in a high-stakes process that can span months or years. Yet compliance is the very factor that can determine …

Launching a boutique investment bank is no small task. For many independent teams, the challenge isn’t sourcing deals or serving clients, it’s navigating the regulatory complexity that comes with broker-dealer compliance. SEC and FINRA filings, licensing requirements, AML oversight, and …