UpFront » February 2021

Ongoing reviews by regulators and an upcoming Congressional hearing have brokerage firm trading practices under the spotlight. This following the recent GameStop trading frenzy, revealing online broker Robinhood’s reliance on payment for order flow, and raising questions about its actions to restrict trading in Gamestop. Regulators have condoned payment for order flow for many years, explains FrontLine’s Founder and President Amy Lynch, and to abruptly change their stance about it would seem unlikely as it…

The SEC has established a post specifically to advise on ESG regulatory issues. The naming of Satyam Khanna as a senior policy adviser for ESG signals that efforts are underway at the SEC for formulating ESG regulations, concludes Amy Lynch, FrontLine’s Founder and President. Ms. Lynch comments that ESG-like mandates will likely be relied on to review Wall Street firms and other corporations to see what business lines would fall under potential new regulations, including…

Amy Lynch, FrontLine’s Founder and President, returned for another interview on CNBC, this time on “Squawk Box” to discuss the options for regulators following the market volatility created by the Reddit influenced trading of GameStop. Ms. Lynch responds to questions about possible actions determined by the panel of regulators recently convened by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. She also discusses whether rulemaking could be considered to curtail the practice of payment for order flow, as utilized…

Firms should be bolstering compliance resources and staff in anticipation of a new SEC that will more closely follow the letter of the law than the prior one. FrontLine’s Founder and President, Amy Lynch, recommends that firms evaluate their policies and procedures by reviewing them against actual firm functions within operations. Ms. Lynch also suggests that firms review their use of disclosures and whether they meet regulatory requirements, and look at employee numbers for fair…

Expect SEC chairman nominee Gary Gensler to seek greater regulation of Wall Street that will be viewed as anti-industry, but many Congressional Democrats, industry groups and fellow regulators agree it’s exactly what’s needed. Amy Lynch, FrontLine Compliance Founder and President, states that Gensler’s track record as a regulator has shown him to be a tough enforcer of current rules and an implementer of new rules as necessitated. Ms. Lynch sees Gensler following President Biden’s call…