Close Close
Sign In
Newsletters
Popular Financial Topics Discover relevant content from across the suite of ALM legal publications From the Industry More content from ThinkAdvisor and select sponsors Investment Advisor Issue Gallery Read digital editions of Investment Advisor Magazine Tax Facts Get clear, current, and reliable answers to pressing tax questions
Luminaries Awards
Podcast Center Video Center Webcasts Resource Center Events
About ThinkAdvisor Contact Us Advertise With Us Asset & Logo Licensing Sitemap Terms of Service Privacy Policy Copyright © 2024 ALM Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
ThinkAdvisor

Regulation and Compliance > Federal Regulation

Schwab Launches Compliance Solutions Program

By Melanie Waddell

X
Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

To help the companies it serves tackle their ongoing compliance challenges, Charles Schwab on Monday launched Compliance Solutions, which combines the capabilities of Schwab Designated Brokerage Services (DBS) and Compliance 11, Inc.

Schwab says its Compliance Solutions program fulfills an initiative it launched last November after acquiring Compliance 11 and pairing it with Schwab Designated Brokerage Services. Compliance 11 provides regulatory compliance software and DBS provides trade monitoring services. Since the acquisition, Schwab says it has focused on creating a unique suite of tools and resources for clients.

“Companies understand that they need to meet regulatory requirements, but at Schwab we believe compliance can and should mean more than a check-the-box approach,” said Trish Cox, senior vice president for Corporate Brokerage Services at Schwab, in a statement. “Consumers value open and transparent business practices, and positive perception in this area may benefit a company’s bottom line. When managed effectively, a compliance program can be an opportunity to position a company favorably in the marketplace, build trust with clients, and enhance value and market share for a firm.”

Scott Rister, vice president of Compliance Solutions, said Schwab is also seeing growing concern among its own client base of employers regarding compliance issues. “Our clients are coming to us for help as they face an increasingly complex regulatory environment that often outpaces their ability to manage compliance processes,” Rister said in the same statement. “The business risk for our clients is real, and our solutions are designed to tackle it head on.”

Rister added that one of the chief concerns faced by regulated firms is improper securities trading, and the number and types of firms that are required to monitor employee securities trading is growing rapidly. Employees, he said, may be prohibited from trading a specific security for a variety of reasons, such as the firm possessing material non-public information.

To address this challenge, Schwab introduced proactive trade blocking. Proactive trade blocking “is unique in the industry and prevents employees from executing a prohibited trade in error, notifying them that the prohibited trade was blocked according to their company’s rules,” Rister said. “With other systems available today, even if a prohibited trade is detected, it is after the fact, which creates a poor experience for the employee and the employer alike, often requiring the trade to be canceled and unwound.”

Proactive trade blocking, Rister went on to say, “offers a much more streamlined approach and a much better experience, saving time and minimizing hassles. These trading errors are typically honest mistakes made by honest people. Now we offer a unique solution that helps them avoid these mistakes in the first place.”

Compliance Solutions also offers additional tools and technology resources “to help transform a company’s overall compliance process from complex and time-consuming to simple and efficient,” Schwab said.

The comprehensive offerings include:             

  • Proactive enforcement of company trading policies
  • Distribution and tracking of employee affirmations and disclosures
  • Logging and reporting of gifts and entertainment
  • A sophisticated, cloud-based software application
  • A scalable, flexible platform
  • Easier maintenance of compliance policies and procedures
  • Dedicated service and support teams
  • Bundled pricing for cost savings
  • Employee access to a full suite of brokerage products and services from Charles Schwab & Co.
  • Employee access to a range of banking products and services from Charles Schwab Bank.

——

Check out more stories related to the Legal & Compliance topic at AdvisorOne.

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.