Envestnet, CSS Partner to Help Advisors Meet Reg BI’s Form CRS Requirement

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Form CRS compliance is one of the bigger headaches facing advisors as the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest compliance deadline approaches.

As registered investment advisors (RIAs) and broker-dealers work to make sure they can file required documentation ahead of the June 30, 2020 enforcement deadline, Envestnet and Compliance Solutions Strategies (CSS) announced some help this week in the form of a new Form CRS software solution.

Chicago-based Envestnet has entered into a strategic partnership with New York-based CSS to offer a comprehensive, fully customizable Form CRS software solution for registered investment advisors (RIAs) and broker-dealers to Envestnet clients.

CSS’s Form CRS Automator software is designed to help firms meet the Form CRS filing requirements in Reg BI ahead of the June 30 deadline.

“Our partnership with CSS reinforces our ongoing commitment to putting our customers first by providing them with a unique, efficient, and compliant tool to prepare the newly required Form CRS filing before the deadline,” said Blake Wood, Senior Vice President and Director of Product Strategy at Envestnet.

“Facing a fast-approaching deadline, many RIAs and broker-dealers feel under pressure to assemble compliant and accurate information while correctly interpreting the SEC’s strict Form CRS requirements,” added Jacqueline Hallihan, Executive Director of CSS’s Compliance Services. “Our Form CRS Automator has been built in conjunction with CSS’s compliance professionals, and its output is consistent with regulatory guidance and Form CRS requirements—allowing advisors’ compliance teams to eliminate hours of research and troubleshooting.”

On June 5, 2019, the SEC adopted new rules requiring all RIAs and broker-dealers providing services to retail investors to create a new Form CRS (Form ADV, Part 3, also known as a Relationship Summary). Form CRS plays a critical role in the SEC’s broader rulemaking efforts to protect Main Street investors.

The new Form CRS regulations require RIAs and broker-dealers to develop and deliver two-page documents to retail investors, or four-page documents for dual registrants and affiliates, which allow current and prospective clients to compare services, fees, conflicts of interest, and other key information in simple, easy-to-understand language.

Form CRS materials must be filed with the SEC by June 30, 2020. After July 1, 2020, Form CRS filings must be delivered to new and prospective clients and customers, and they are required to be delivered to all existing clients byJuly 30, 2020.

“Many regulated firms are understandably concerned about how they are going to digest the SEC’s 524-page Form CRS Adopting Release and 18 pages of instructions,” said Keith Marks, Executive Director of CSS’s Compliance Services. “CSS’s Form CRS Automator software solves this problem by equipping firms with a solution for the efficient production of a Form CRS that fully meets the SEC’s requirements.”

To streamline the Form CRS filing process, CSS’s Form CRS Automator extracts data from a firm’s existing SEC filings, including more than 70 data points in Form ADV, Part 1A as well as Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) filings—ensuring advisors can produce the correct descriptions applicable to their businesses. The software also gives advisors the option to further customize their Form CRS documents by exporting them to Microsoft Word. In addition, as a web-based application, the Form CRS Automator requires no software implementation.

The customizable, web-based tool gives regulated firms the ability to produce the required Form CRS filings quickly and efficiently. For more information about the CSS Form CRS Automator, visit http://www.cssregtech.com/form-crs.

Editor’s Note: Due to the rapidly evolving situation with the coronavirus (COVID-19), Envestnet recently announced it has canceled its Envestnet Advisor Summit that had been scheduled for Austin, Texas, April 29-30. See more details here.

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