Dual-registered RIAs and Broker-Dealers face rising regulatory expectations from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), compliance teams are under pressure to deliver across anti-money laundering (AML), trade surveillance, cybersecurity, and Reg BI (Regulation Best Interest) standards as the largest institutions, yet most still rely on in-house solutions and manual workflows.

In this expert-led discussion, Solidus Labs’ Nicole Cammaert, Marshall Mathias, and Igor Prizant examine the realities for Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) and Broker-Dealers (BDs) navigating supervisory exams in 2025. They unpack how smaller compliance teams can implement integrated monitoring that consolidates alerts across transaction monitoring (TM), trade surveillance (TS), advisor oversight, and cyber threats such as account takeover (ATO)

Key topics include:

• What fragmented compliance environments miss—and how cross-domain surveillance helps
• How behavioral signals, Know Your Advisor (KYA) practices, and customer segmentation reduce false positives
• How artificial intelligence (AI) can streamline suspicious activity report (SAR) filings

Whether you’re juggling spreadsheets or wrangling multiple point solutions, you’ll leave with an actionable roadmap to unified, regulator-ready oversight. 

Glossary

RIA (Registered Investment Advisor): A firm or individual that provides investment advice and is registered with the SEC or state regulators.

BD (Broker-Dealer): A person or firm in the business of buying and selling securities for its own account or on behalf of customers.

AML (Anti-Money Laundering): Regulations and procedures designed to prevent criminals from disguising illegally obtained funds as legitimate income.

BSA (Bank Secrecy Act): A U.S. law requiring financial institutions to assist government agencies in detecting and preventing money laundering.

Reg BI (Regulation Best Interest): SEC rule requiring broker-dealers to act in the best interest of their retail customers when making recommendations.

FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network): A bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury that combats domestic and international financial crimes.

SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission): The U.S. federal agency responsible for enforcing securities laws and regulating the securities industry.

FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority): A non-governmental organization that regulates member brokerage firms and exchange markets.

ATO (Account Takeover): A type of fraud where a bad actor gains unauthorized access to a customer account to steal funds or personal data.

KYA (Know Your Advisor): Processes for monitoring and assessing financial advisor behavior to ensure compliance with firm and regulatory policies.

SAR (Suspicious Activity Report): A report filed by financial institutions to FinCEN about suspicious or potentially suspicious financial activity.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main challenge facing dual-registered firms today?

A: Dual-registered firms are under pressure to meet growing regulatory expectations from multiple agencies while often operating with lean compliance teams and outdated systems.


Why are traditional compliance systems no longer sufficient?

A: Legacy systems are often siloed and were not designed to handle the scale, complexity, or speed of modern regulatory demands. Firms need integrated tools for proactive oversight.


What is cross-domain surveillance?

A: Cross-domain surveillance refers to combining trade, transaction, behavioral, and cybersecurity monitoring into a unified system to enhance detection accuracy and reduce false positives.


How can smaller firms manage compliance effectively?

A: By adopting scalable, integrated solutions like Solidus HALO, small firms can meet regulatory obligations without requiring massive teams or budgets.


How does AI help in compliance?

A: Artificial intelligence supports compliance by improving alert accuracy, reducing noise, summarizing transactional activity, and accelerating the preparation of reports like SARs.