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September 26, 2019

Two New Tools for Compliance Teams

The illumis team is happy to announce two major releases for our political contribution monitoring platform. Standalone searching and enhanced candidate and committee data will help streamline workflows for compliance teams.

The new standalone search functionality makes it easy to do ad-hoc searches across our entire data set for individual contributors and companies where ongoing monitoring may not be necessary. And the enhanced candidate detail data provides additional details around the candidates and committees receiving contributions. This can significantly cut down on research time by pulling in additional details on candidate and office details.

Standalone Searches

Need to run a one-time check on an employee or new hire, but don’t need ongoing monitoring? We’ve added a new search functionality to the platform that makes these searches easy to perform - separate from the broader monitoring functionality. These searches still have all of the advanced filtering functionalities you’re able to use in monitoring to help eliminate false positives, and it is easy to export a quick report for any search.

Enhanced Candidate & Committee Data

We’re now augmenting contribution records with a substantial amount of additional candidate and office data, pulled in from separate filings and displayed across the platform. This added data will make it easier for users to see more clearly which candidate a contribution is actually going to, what position they hold or are running for, whether they are an incumbent and other details depending on the jurisdiction. Rather than having to do a lot of additional research around a contribution record, you’ll have that information pulled directly into the platform.

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.