Advertising and marketing rule is the looming compliance concern (InvestmentNews)

The SEC’s fast approaching early November compliance date for its revamped rule on advertising and marketing is creating both urgent and cautious approaches by firms. This is especially the case with investment advisers use of testimonials and endorsements, now allowed as long as they meet the rule’s requirements. In lead quotes for the InvestmentNews story, FrontLine’s Founder and President Amy Lynch comments that firms need to move quickly in updating policies and procedures, and then decipher how to use testimonials and endorsements under the new rule. Ms. Lynch explains that firms must include appropriate disclosures of pertinent information and potential conflicts of interest or risk being in violation of the rule. She adds that comprehension of the principles-based rule requirements for marketing to be “fair and balanced” is among the largest compliance challenge facing firms. Ms. Lynch sees firms grappling with a business decision on whether to be at the front of pack or to take a wait and see approach on industry practices and the initial enforcement cases that emerge. See InvestmentNews, “Advisers must weigh whether to be first to use testimonials for marketing“