menu

March 1, 2019

March 2019 Update: Address Filter And Preclearance

Preclearance lists
You can now integrate preclearance data into illumis. Use the Preclearance tab to add and store contribution requests to the platform, helping keep your workflows streamlined and centralized, and easily share data across the team.

In the next few months, we’ll be adding additional functionality to automatically match pre-cleared contributions directly to records detected, letting you quickly and easily reconcile records in the platform.

Exclude contributor addresses and employers
Customers can now exclude false positives using address or employer information on the record. For example, if you’re monitoring a common name like Andrew Allen, and know the Andrew Allen in Westbury isn’t the person you want results for, you can set up a filter to remove results for addresses in that city. Here’s how:

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.