The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is an independent regulatory body monitored by the SEC to manage and protect the financial industry against breaches in regulations that could lead to corruption, fraud or theft. All told, FINRA monitors up to 4,200 brokerage firms up to 75 billion transactions each day. 

As part of that mission, FINRA develops and implements a set of compliance requirements that protect financial transactions against theft. This includes several layers of financial best practices as well as cybersecurity measures that protect communications, transactions and data every single day. 

Here, we’ll cover the basics of FINRA compliance and what it could mean for your business. 

Read More

In a previous article, we discussed GDPR compliance for business in the European Union. Simply put, GDPR changed the way that businesses can use consumer data for marketing and business purposes while giving more control to consumers in terms of how that data is stored, deleted or transmitted. 

While GDPR is not a standard in the United States (and in many ways, GDPR contradicts U.S. laws), several states have introduced their own, more rigorous compliance standards to protect consumers. One of these is the California Consumer Privacy Act or CCPA. This law creates several standards that businesses must follow in the state of California to protect customer data. 

Read More

Data privacy and protection are critical parts of any compliance framework, and few regulatory bodies take that fact more seriously than the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. A law passed in the European Union in 2018, GDPR attempts to address core issues of how businesses can gather, use and manage customer data as part of their business operations without violating the rights of those customers. 

While some businesses in the U.S. may not see much value in understanding GDPR, those serving EU customers are wise to better grasp the intricacies of the law and how it will impact their work in Europe. 

Read More