FINRA proposes modernizing Rule 2210 to address social media and AI communication challenges, replacing prescriptive pre-use approval with risk-based standards, streamlining filing requirements, and clarifying supervision of retail communications. The changes aim to balance innovation, efficiency, and investor protection, allowing firms to tailor procedures based on communication risk factors and technological advances.
Barrington Financial Consulting Group, Inc. has been recognized among the Top 3 for Best Expert Witness (Financial) in the 2026 Minnesota Lawyer and Finance & Commerce Reader Rankings.
This recognition is especially meaningful because it reflects the work of BFCG’s team of affiliated experts serving counsel and clients in complex financial-services and securities matters.
Since our founding in 2017, BFCG has focused on providing careful, independent analysis and testimony concerning financial-services practices, supervision, complex products, and damages.
Thank you to the readers of Minnesota Lawyer and Finance & Commerce for this honor—and, above all, to the attorneys and clients who continue to place their confidence in our team.
Barrington Financial Consulting Group, Inc.
The SEC announced the creation of a new Retail Fraud Working Group on July 7, 2026, aimed at strengthening enforcement efforts against fraud targeting everyday investors.
The group will focus on misconduct affecting retail investors, including offering frauds, pump-and-dump schemes, market manipulation, and breaches of duties by investment advisers and broker-dealers.
Its role will include proactive case generation, coordination with U.S. and foreign regulatory partners, and investor education in cooperation with the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Assistance.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins described the initiative as a return to the core investor-protection mission of the enforcement program. Enforcement Director David Woodcock emphasized that the group will use focused resources, regulatory partnerships, data, and technology to identify and stop misconduct aimed at retail investors.
The working group will be led by Kate Zoladz, Deputy Director, West, and Kim Frederick, Assistant Director of the Asset Management Unit.