SEC initiatives that could affect financial advisors

On April 12, 2018, our chief compliance officer (CCO), Ms. Manal Fouz, attended the Compliance Outreach Program in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The conference is designed to promote better communication between securities regulators and compliance officers. A limited number of CCOs from registered investment advisory firms nationwide are approved by the SEC to attend in person, while others can watch online. Here are 3 take-aways you may be interested in: 1) Continued focus on older clients and protecting them from financial exploitation The SEC continues to focus on how firms deal with their older clients and those who demonstrate diminished mental capacity. Sadly, most financial exploitation cases involving older clients is perpetrated by family members. At Azzad, we’ve already implemented a few best practices mentioned during the conference. They include allowing you to assign a trusted contact on your account. A trusted contact is someone we can talk to in case we can’t reach you or want to confirm your requests. Your trusted contact won’t be able to conduct actual transactions with your accounts, so a power of attorney (POA) is best for those cases. You can expect more questions from us if

June 2, 2018 No Comments

Azzad joins interfaith coalition asking SEC to reassess pay ratio rule

(Falls Church, Virginia, 3/22/17) — Azzad Asset Management has joined other faith-based organizations in signing a letter to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) calling for the continuation of a rule requiring companies to disclose how much CEOs make compared to their employees. The pay ratio provision is part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; it requires publicly traded companies to disclose median employee compensation along with a ratio of how that compares to the chief executive’s pay–information that was previously inaccessible to shareholders. In February, acting SEC Chair Michael Piwowar announced that the SEC would reconsider implementation of the rule and requested public comment. Organized by Praxis and Christian Brothers Investment Services, the letter was signed by nine faith-based investment firms and delivered to the SEC on March 21. It states, in part: “We are aware that income inequality may be an inevitable outcome of the freedom of opportunity for which the United States is deservedly renowned. Our argument, however, is that in a democratic society, there should be full disclosure, awareness and discussion about what our existing levels of inequality are, whether this state of affairs is acceptable, and if it is

March 22, 2017 No Comments