The Securities and Exchange Commission’s exam division flagged on Monday deficiencies the agency has seen in advisors that operate from numerous branch offices — including violations of the custody and compliance rules as well as in providing investment advice and in advertising.
In a Risk Alert, the agency’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations states that it conducted a series of exams that focused on RIAs’ operating from numerous branch offices and with operations geographically dispersed from the advisor’s principal or main office, better known as the “Multi-Branch Initiative.”
OCIE observed that the branch office model “may pose certain risk factors that advisors should consider in designing and implementing their compliance programs and in supervising personnel and processes occurring in branch offices.”
The risks may be heightened “when the main and branch offices have different practices,” OCIE states.