On January 25, 2019, over 90 industry professionals visited the Raymond James Financial complex in St. Petersburg, Florida for a SIFMA/FSDA networking breakfast followed by two engaging panel discussions.  The first panel covered current regulatory issues, and was moderated by IRA Hammerman, Executive Vice President & General Counsel of SIFMA.  Mr. Hammerman’s esteemed panel included: Yvette Panetta, Deputy Director at FINRA, Caroline Holmes, Chief of the Bureau of Enforcement, Division of Securities, Florida Office of Financial Regulation and David Birnbaum, Managing Director of Business Development & Strategies for Bates Group LLC.  The regulatory panel covered topics including: current examination priorities and state regulatory initiatives.

The second panel was moderated by Steven Greenbaum, Vice President and General Counsel of TradeStation Securities, Inc. and included: Roseann Chavanne, Co-CCO of Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, Olga Greenberg, a partner with Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP, and Christopher Majeski, Senior VP and Head of Private Client Group Supervision for Raymond James Financial, Inc.  The supervision panel covered some important topics including: the use of big data, complex products, senior investor and vulnerable adult protection, business continuity plans, cybersecurity, and anti-money laundering.

Attendees qualified for continuing education credits, and are able to share the valuable insights gleaned from the discussion with their respective firms.  The FSDA looks forward to continuing to work with the SIFMA C&L Society to help educate the securities industry on important regulatory developments and best practices.