RIA Compliance Consultants

02/26/2026

Can a prospective firm launch a website while registering as an investment adviser?

A prospective firm that has filed for registration as an investment adviser should not publicly market advisory services or hold itself out as registered until formal approval has been granted by the securities regulator.

Filing Form ADV does not mean the firm is registered. Registration is not effective until the regulator approves the application. Until that time, the firm (and its supervised persons, if not already registered elsewhere) must refrain from:
• Holding itself out as an investment adviser
• Offering investment advisory services
• Providing investment advice regarding securities

During the Registration Review Process:

Regulators routinely conduct independent Internet searches during the registration review process. This often includes:
• Firm websites
• LinkedIn and other social media profiles
• Archived or cached web pages

Regulators are evaluating whether the applicant is engaging in impermissible “holding out” prior to approval. Advertising advisory services, describing the firm as registered, or suggesting advisory activity can delay approval and may result in deficiency letters or further scrutiny.

“Under Construction” or Holding Pages:

A prospective firm may reserve a domain and publish a minimal “coming soon” page. However, the page should:
• Not state or imply the firm is registered
• Not describe advisory services
• Not invite engagement for advisory services

When an Existing Business Is Adding RIA Registration:

If an existing business (e.g., accounting, insurance, consulting, family office) is registering as an adviser under the same legal entity, the analysis becomes more nuanced.

The firm may continue offering its existing non-investment advisory services on its website or social media accounts. However, it must not prematurely market or describe investment advisory services as available until approval.

In many cases, firms choose to structurally separate advisory and non-advisory services into separate legal entities.

Summary:

A firm may reserve a domain name and publish a neutral holding page during the registration process. However, it should not publicly launch a full investment advisory website or begin marketing investment advisory services until formal approval has been granted. Facts and jurisdiction matter. When in doubt, obtain legal and compliance guidance before going live.

Disclosure:

This post is general in nature and offered only for educational purposes. There is no warranty associated with this post. It should not be considered as a comprehensive review or analysis of this subject. Merely reading this post does not create an engagement with the author. The reader should consult with his or her compliance professionals.

10/15/2025

Coinciding with the yearly FINRA system shutdown, Investment Adviser Representatives with a Continuing Education requirement for 2025 should complete their Investment Adviser Representative Continuing Education (IAR CE) courses well before 4:00 PM EST on Friday, December 26, 2025. Learn more on our blog:

Investment Adviser Representatives with a Continuing Education requirement for 2025 must complete their Investment Adviser Representative Continuing

08/03/2025

If your investment adviser firm is required to file Form 13F, please be aware that your firm is also required (subject to certain exceptions) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commisson ("SEC") to file an annual report on Form N-PX by August 31 each year.

This report will cover the most recent 12-month period ending June 30 and must inlude the firm's proxy voting record related to executive compensation ("say-on-pay") matters.

Even if your investment adviser firm is a 13F filer that does not vote proxies, it is still required to submit Form N-PX, indicating that no proxy voting occurred during the reporting period.

However, if your investment adviser firm does not exercise investment discretion over $100 million in 13F securities and is therefore not required to file Form 13F, your firm is not required to file Form N-PX.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this post is general in nature intended for educational purposes only and is not a comprehensive analysis of this topic. This post is not intended to constitute compliance consulting advice. For advice customized to your circumstances, please contact your compliance professional.

08/03/2025

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced it has resumed processing registration applications for Swiss-based investment adviser firms, following a cooperative arrangement with Switzerland’s financial regulator, FINMA. 🇨🇭🇺🇸

This long-awaited development resolves a key hurdle stemming from GDPR-style privacy laws that previously limited the SEC’s ability to examine registrants located in Switzerland.

It may also signal a path forward for prospective investment advisers in other foreign jurisdictions where data protection and privacy laws have prevented new registrations with the SEC.

Disclosure: This regulatory alert is a summary which is general in nature and offered only for educational purposes. There is no warranty associated with this regulatory alert. It should not be considered as a comprehensive review or analysis of this development. There are certain requirements and exceptions outlined in this cooperative arrangement which are not covered in this regulatory alert. Each investment adviser firm is unique, and specific guidance may be required to address your firm’s circumstances. This communication is not intended to constitute compliance consulting advice or apply to any particular investment adviser firm’s specific situation without further analysis. This regulatory alert is not a safe harbor or a legal opinion. Merely reading this regulatory alert does not create an engagement with RIA Compliance Consultants, Inc.

Background: Cross-Border Oversight and Data Protection Laws For many years, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has maintained that, in

07/30/2025

If your investment adviser firm submits filings such as 13F, N‑PX, or 13H, you must enroll in EDGAR Next by September 12, 2025 to avoid disruption. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) will replace legacy CIK/CCC and passphrase authentication with Login.gov individual accounts and multifactor authentication.

If this applies to your firm, we have prepared a brief overview of the steps you will need to take by September 12, 2025, along with links to some helpful resources. This article is available on our blog, linked below.

https://www.ria-compliance-consultants.com/2025/07/investment-advisers-filing-form-13f-n-px-or-13h-must-enroll-in-new-system/

If your investment adviser firm submits filings such as 13F, N‑PX, or 13H, you must enroll in EDGAR Next by September 12, 2025 to avoid disruption. The

07/28/2025

FinCEN has officially delayed its anti-money laundering (AML) rule for investment advisers until January 1, 2028.

This delay provides regulatory relief - especially for investment adviser firms without an existing AML program. However, it also extends a period of uncertainty as investment adviser firms await further guidance and rulemaking.

We’ve summarized the current state of play and practical considerations in our recent article, which is linked in the first comment below.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this post is general in nature intended for educational purposes only and is not a comprehensive analysis of this topic. This post is not intended to constitute compliance consulting advice. Please monitor subsequent regulatory activity by the FinCEN and SEC for further guidance on this subject.

On July 21, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced a significant delay to the compliance

12/17/2024

In order to ensure that Investment Adviser Representative Continuing Education (“IAR CE”) credits are processed before the CRD system’s year-end shutdown, Investment Adviser Representatives with an IAR CE obligation for 2024 will have until Friday, December 20, 2024 to complete all required IAR CE credits through CE4Advisers.com. This is especially critical for individuals relying on IAR CE credits to prevent their registration from failing to renew. For those still in need of IAR CE for 2024, RIA Compliance Consultants offers a la carte courses for $20 each, or a bundle of 12 courses for $200 available at https://ce4advisers.com/shop/. These courses are delivered in video format on our dedicated IAR CE website, CE4Advisers.com. Contact us with any questions at [email protected].

11/08/2024

Starting Monday, November 11, 2024, an investment adviser firm can access, via its IARD account, its Preliminary Renewal Statement for 2025 renewals.

The Preliminary Renewal Statement must be paid, in full, by Monday, December 9, 2024. Depending on your method of payment, it may take at least two days for a payment to post to the IARD account. Because of this, your firm's payment should arrive at FINRA no later than Wednesday, December 4, 2024, to ensure that funds are posted to your firm's IARD account by December 9, 2024.

Failure to maintain active registration or failure to properly renew registration by the deadline may be detrimental to an investment adviser firm. Investment adviser firms and investment adviser representatives that are not properly renewed may become ineligible to conduct business effective January 1, 2025. Additionally, certain regulators may assess fines against those firms or representatives that fail to properly renew.

Most jurisdictions participate in the IARD Automatic Failure to Renew Program. If your investment adviser firm or its representatives are registered or notice filed in a jurisdiction that participates in the IARD Automatic Failure to Renew Program, your jurisdiction has authorized FINRA to automatically terminate your investment adviser firm and investment adviser representative registrations on December 31, 2024, if your investment adviser firm's IARD Renewal Account is not funded by the renewal deadline.

Unfortunately, every year there are investment adviser firms that fail to submit renewal fees through their IARD accounts in a timely fashion, and almost all state securities regulators will automatically terminate these registered investment adviser firms and their investment adviser representatives for failing to pay their renewal fees. Contacting each state securities regulator after such a failure to renew can be time intensive and potentially expensive since a state securities regulator typically has the authority to require a new registration application and prohibit the charging of investment advisory fees as long as the investment adviser and its representatives are unregistered.

⚠️ Important Information
This post is for general educational purposes only and should not be considered advice to the reader. The author of this post has not verified the accuracy of the allegations in the enforcement actions. A client relationship is not created by merely reading this post. For additional information or specific guidance, the reader should consult with his or her compliance professional for advice tailored to the reader’s specific circumstances.

10/04/2024

📢 Regulatory Alert: The U.S. Department of Treasury’s FinCEN has issued new anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) rule that impacts investment advisers registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Exempt Reporting Advisers (ERAs). These rules aim to safeguard the U.S. financial system from illicit activities.

✨Key Highlights:
- Covered advisers must implement a comprehensive, risk-based AML program.
- Advisers must conduct independent testing of their AML program by qualified internal or external personnel.
- File Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and comply with currency transaction and recordkeeping and travel requirements.
- Compliance deadline: January 1, 2026.

📚 Need to Know More? Our investment adviser representative continuing education course covers the basic requirements of the new AML rule. To register for this IAR CE course, visit https://ce4advisers.com/product/ethics-professional-responsibility-new-aml-requirements-for-investment-advisers/ .

🔎 Learn more by reading our detailed blog post at https://www.ria-compliance-consultants.com/2024/10/new-aml-requirements-for-investment-adviser/ .

⚠️Disclaimer: This regulatory alert is a summary which is general in nature and offered only for educational purposes. It should not be considered as a comprehensive review or analysis of this development. There are certain requirements and exceptions outlined in the rule which are not covered in this regulatory alert. There may be additional obligations and nuances not covered here. Each investment adviser firm is unique, and specific guidance may be required to address your firm's circumstances. This communication is not intended to constitute compliance consulting advice or apply to any particular investment adviser firm’s specific situation without further analysis. This regulatory alert is not a safe harbor or a legal opinion. Merely reading this regulatory alert does not create an engagement with RIA Compliance Consultants, Inc. The reader should study the actual guidance, rule or enforcement action in detail and consult with his or her compliance professionals. This information in this regulatory alert may become out of date.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has finalized a new rule requiring certain investment adviser firms registered with the SEC, including exempt reporting advisers, to establish anti-money laundering (AML) programs and report suspicious activities. This rule...

09/05/2024

Great review from David... "A great company to work with and they meet our needs very well. They are always very approachable."

"A great company to work with and they meet our needs very well. They are always very approachable."

08/24/2024

If your investment adviser firm is required to file Form 13F, please be aware that your firm is now required (subject to certain exceptions) by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") to file an annual report on Form N-PX by August 31, 2024.

This Form N-PX report will cover the most recent 12-month period ending June 30 and must include the firm’s proxy voting record related to executive compensation matters.

Even if your investment adviser firm is a 13F filer that does not vote proxies, it is still required to submit Form N-PX, indicating that no proxy voting occurred during the reporting period.

However, if your investment adviser firm does not exercise investment discretion over $100 million in 13F securities and is therefore not required to file Form 13F, your firm is not required to file Form N-PX.

Important Disclosures:
This regulatory alert is a brief summary which is general in nature and offered only for educational purposes. It should not be considered as a comprehensive review or analysis of this development. There are certain requirements and exceptions outlined in the rule which are not covered in this regulatory alert. This communication is not intended to constitute compliance consulting advice or apply to any particular investment adviser firm’s specific situation without further analysis. This regulatory alert is not a safe harbor or a legal opinion. The reader should study the actual guidance, rule or enforcement action in detail and consult with his or her compliance professionals. This information in this regulatory alert may become out of date.

If your investment adviser firm is required to file Form 13F, please be aware that your firm is now required (subject to certain exceptions) by the United