Did You Notice the Increased Enforcements?

As regulators globally look to preserve integrity and trust in the financial markets, their enforcement actions have recently ramped up. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered financial institutions to pay nearly $2 Billion for Recordkeeping and Supervision Failures for Widespread Use of Unapproved Communication Methods.

Statements From the Regulators

SEC Chair Gary Gensler:
“Finance, ultimately, depends on trust. By failing to honor their recordkeeping and books-and-records obligations, the market participants we have charged today have failed to maintain that trust……it’s even more important that registrants appropriately conduct their communications about business matters within only official channels, and they must maintain and preserve those communications. As part of our examinations and enforcement work, we will continue to ensure compliance with these laws.”

CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam:
"The Commission’s recordkeeping and supervision requirements ensure the safety and integrity of the U.S. derivatives markets and protect customers and market participants…….as demonstrated today, the Commission will vigorously pursue registrants who fail to comply with their core regulatory obligations and hold them accountable.”

Expert panelists:

Priya Roy Partner at Optima Partners		Eric Young Managing Director at Guidepost Solutions		Paul Cottee Director, Regulatory Compliance at NICE

Priya Roy
Priya is a US regulatory consultant focused on the private fund industry. She joined Optima Partners in 2014 and has 15 years’ experience in the investment management industry. She is a certified accountant and, prior to Optima, worked as a Compliance Officer at CCMP Capital Advisors and as an Associate in the Regulatory and Compliance team in the London and New York offices of Kinetic Partners (Duff & Phelps / Kroll).
With a thorough knowledge of SEC and CFTC/NFA requirements, the main service offerings in Priya’s team involve outsourced compliance functions, such as electronic communications reviews, trade surveillance, expert network call monitoring, marketing material reviews, code of ethics compliance monitoring, as well as reviews of compliance systems and controls, assistance with regulatory filings, designing/implementing compliance frameworks, regulatory examination support and mock exams.
As a Partner in the Optima Partners New York team, she has responsibility for strategic client management, and management and development of the associate team.

Eric Young
Eric T. Young re-engineers compliance, ethics, and regulatory technology programs of highly regulated companies so that their business growth is reputable and sustainable. He is part of both Guidepost’s Financial Services and National Security practices. Mr. Young has deep regulatory, ethics & compliance experience, having spent close to 40 years as global or regional chief compliance officer with JP Morgan, UBS, BNP Paribas, General Electric and S&P Global Ratings. Mr. Young builds and sustains enterprise-, AML, economic sanctions, and anti-corruption compliance programs consistent with U.S. Department of Justice Sentencing Guidelines and Corporate Compliance guidance, as well as U.S. and international standards such as the Bank Secrecy Act, OFAC, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and other anti-financial crime standards.
Mr. Young is a frequent speaker and author and has been featured in the American Banker, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Reuters. He recently published the book “Declaration of Independence” about the strategic partnership between chief compliance officers and boards of directors to hold management more accountable.

Paul Cottee
Paul Cottee is a Director within the Compliance Line of Business at NICE, based in Hoboken, NJ. In this role, Paul provides subject-matter expertise for over-the-counter (OTC) asset classes and assists in the development and expansion of NICE’s holistic market surveillance product offering.
Paul joined NICE in April 2020 from Nasdaq, where he led the development of surveillance products for FX, Fixed Income and other OTC asset classes. Paul has previously served as Director in Compliance (including Trade Surveillance and Advisory) with global investment banks and asset management firms in New York, Singapore and London; Associate Director in Fixed Income Research with a major investment bank in London; Bloomberg’s EMEA SME for FX, Fixed Income and OTC derivatives (based in London); and Senior Futures Client Advisor and Foreign Exchange Dealer for major global and domestic banks in Sydney. Paul is a frequent speaker at industry conferences worldwide. Paul received his BA in Government and Economics from the University of Sydney and his LL.M from London Metropolitan University.