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November 2, 2018

November 2018 Update: Dashboard and Contribution Statuses & Notes

Dashboard View
Using the new dashboard view, you’re able to see a continuous stream of all the records added to your account across different people and companies, and organize them as needed. You can also use filters to see records detected within the last day, week, or month.

Filtering
In the dashboard, there’s additional filtering on new records, allowing you to view records that are new today, new this week, or new this month. We’ve also added filtering by status, so that you can differentiate between records you’ve already dealt with, and those you still need to review. Several new tabs allow you to quickly pull up a list of records by status.

Approval Status You’re now able to quickly mark contribution records “to do”, “approved” or “not approved” to make sure contributions have been reviewed and flag records for further investigation. Any status changes you make are tied to that record throughout your illumis account.

Notes
You can now add notes to individual records. Any special comments, additional details, or process updates can be directly linked to a record using a note. Within your workflow, use notes to indicate if a record has been pre-cleared, is under review, or is awaiting approval. The note will be attached to that record, no matter where you view it in illumis.

Please Note: This post was updated in June 2020 to reflect our company’s new name: illumis
Why real-time data is essential to helping your investment firm avoid violating pay-to-play regulations, SEC rule 206(4)-5

Political contributions made by firm employees pose a significant threat to investment advisory firms. And even firms with the best compliance teams can be at risk of violating pay-to-play regulations, like the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) rule 206(4)-5, given the complexity of the rules and the myriad of regulations to which firms must comply.

Because of this, investment firms must arm themselves with the access to and support of real-time data, which can help identify potential violations and anomalies in the political donation process.

By leveraging real-time data, investment firms can quickly detect suspicious or unauthorized activities and take prompt action to prevent pay-to-play violations.

Beyond SEC Rule 206(4)-5: A look at state and local political contributions compliance regulations

SEC Rule 206(4)-5 is arguably the most well known regulation regarding political contributions compliance or pay-to-play compliance. However, it certainly isn’t the only regulation to which firms must comply.

In fact, beyond federal regulations, firms which take part in government contracted work must contend with numerous and varied state and local regulations as well. Such regulations present unique challenges because of the various requirements within each, which should they be neglected, can cause significant financial and reputational damage.

Aligning pay-to-play rule 206(4)-5 compliance practices with your investment firm’s regulatory compliance program

While it would be almost too easy to treat the Securities and Exchange Commissions’ (SEC) pay-to-play rule 206(4)-5 as a special requirement implemented only during election years, that mistake can cause serious, firm-wide damages. In fact, for investment firms, establishing a compliance program which actively and regularly incorporates compliance with the SEC pay-to-play rule is essential to avoiding fines, sanctions, lockout periods, loss of revenue and a damaged reputation.