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July 16, 2020

illumis Compliance Product Updates — June

We’re continually updating our political contribution monitoring platform to better serve our customers. We’re excited to share five updates we added to the illumis platform in June:

Share Out Records From the Platform via Email: You can now easily email records directly to colleagues from the illumis platform to save you and your team time as you communicate.

Multiple User Comments on Records: Your team can communicate directly on records by leaving comments, which will be attributed to the team member that added them. A log of other actions has also been added to records, so you can see when statuses were added, or if the record was shared via email.

Custom Fields: Add custom fields (like employee ID or employee email) to any employee in the illumis platform. These can be added with a bulk import or added and edited on an as-needed basis. Users can customize the fields within the platform itself.

Search with Strict Last Names: You can now set strict last name searches in order to help filter out potential false positives in results.

Dashboard Sorting: Sort records on the dashboard by name and date to assist with your team’s workflow.

We’d love to share more, and see if the platform might be a good fit for your team. If you’d like more information, please contact us using the form below.
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.