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 A firm was recently fined $150,000 by FINRA for not monitoring their registered representatives’ use of social media sites. Additionally, this same firm did not have a mechanism for determining whether its representatives were using social media for securities-business purposes. (full case details)
The social media monitoring applications available today rely on an honor system. Companies must trust that their employees are reporting all the social media accounts with which they maintain and contribute. Unfortunately, there is a flaw in this system, not all representatives are so forthcoming with their social media accounts. When it comes to social media how do you know that you are monitoring all of your reps’ accounts? Our Eagle Eye clients are continually finding social media accounts that have not been reported, as well as identifying other things like undisclosed OBA’s, websites, and blogs. Eagle Eye's multi-query processes and dynamically designed algorithms provide more accurate results when monitoring the web. Eagle Eye saves time by eliminating the process of sifting through endless pages on Google or Bing when you are trying to monitor your advisors by hand. (Schedule a demo and we can show you in person how it will work for you.) One of our clients found after implementing Eagle Eye, they immediately identified several OBAs and many missing social media accounts that their reps had failed to report. Now after utilizing Eagle Eye for the last couple of years, not only are they able to continually monitor their reps for new issues, but their reps have become more forthcoming about reporting their OBAs and social media usage. Eagle Eye is just a fraction of the cost of a FINRA fine, and it was developed because of the feedback and requests that SiteQuest Technologies received from our clients. Not only does Eagle Eye identify and locate your representatives’ online presence but it also helps you document and report on your findings. With just a click, you will have everything you need including when a result was found, who reviewed it, comments that were made and time stamps on every action taken on the account. Make sure that you are not missing anything that you are required to monitor. Contact us today for a demo!  A company from Virginia was recently expelled from FINRA membership earlier this year for several violations. Some of the FINRA findings included; “That the firm included issuer communications on its website that it knew or had reason to know contained untrue statements of material facts or were otherwise false or misleading.” If a claim is filed against your company for posting statements on your website that the claimant said is misleading or untrue, are you able to defend your company? Do you have the documentation and reports to support your response? Our SQWatcher application is a web-based tool that not only archives your website, but also analyzes it each day. SQWatcher creates readily accessible backup files that can be easily retrieved to immediately identify and fix something that could have gone wrong. It’s also important to note that unlike other archival systems that may only take a screenshot to show you what the website “looked like” in the past, SQWatcher collects the actual HTML code for every page on your clients’ website(s). This provides the ability to not only view the page in question, but also browse the rest of the site as it appeared in the past as part of your review process. Are you responsible for monitoring one or more websites for your company? This can become a daunting task for any financial supervisor with the continual changes and updates. Are you notified when website information is updated so that you can review and ensure that the changes made online are correct? SQWatcher has taken this into account so that you are automatically notified. This same Virginia firm was also cited by FINRA for “not reasonably supervising its activities of those of its associated persons.” Our Eagle Eye product is the first of its kind application that is designed specifically to help the financial industry easily and effectively supervise the web. Eagle Eye automatically searches, documents, and reports on your web supervision responsibilities so you have everything you need to find and address issues before they are brought to your attention by a regulator.
Eagle Eye and SQWatcher working together are a force multiplier in your supervisory scheme. The cost of these applications are just a fraction of the cost a fine. Working in the finance industry for over 15 years SiteQuest Technologies is an innovative partnership for your firm. We work closely with your supervision departments making sure that our products are continually evolving and optimized with your concerns in mind. Contact us today to see how we can assist you in your web supervision needs.  We would like to share with you some of the trends we are finding while assisting our clients with their requirements to supervise their representatives’ web presence:
The growth of the internet has been exponential over the last decade with no signs of slowing down. Hundreds of thousands of websites have emerged on every subject imaginable, with literally billions of web pages online. As of April 2017, the Indexed Web is estimated to contain at least 4.5 billion pages, according to WorldWideWebSize.com. It is difficult to fully comprehend exactly how many websites and web pages there are out there in the vast internet universe. As a supervisor for a financial firm, you personally might have a better idea of how big it is when you are trying to supervise your representatives’ web presence. When performing a basic web search, you get hundreds, if not thousands of irrelevant results. It then becomes your job, as a supervisor to try and sift through all that web clutter to document and report on anything pertinent that you might find. It can end up taking most your day just trying to find results relevant to your intended search. Your time is valuable. Any search engine can produce an endless amount of meaningless results that need to be reviewed. Our Eagle Eye application is designed with built-in intelligence that sifts through the web’s clutter and brings only the most relevant results to your attention. Our multi-query processes and dynamically designed algorithms provide more accurate results for a quick review process. In addition to our search results our automated screenshots feature helps you document, report and escalate any issue that is brought to light. One of our clients said "The Eagle Eye Surveillance system has been a force multiplier in my firm’s supervisory scheme. This simple tool has transformed my internet surveillance sweep process from a time-consuming, multi-day enterprise where I view the same search results over and over to a simple process that can be completed in a couple of hours." Another one of our clients said: “As soon as we implemented Eagle Eye, the system found searches that were previously missed with the manual process and as a result, we updated our policy and procedures to minimize compliance risk. Also, one of our previous hurdles was demonstrating to our regulators with documentation that we were conducting the appropriate monitoring but with the audits reports, that are available directly from the system, we are able to document and show individual findings in an organized manner." Outside OBAs and unauthorized content from your representatives or advisors are a growing concern that will always be present. Minimize your risk by utilizing Eagle Eye. See for yourself how Eagle Eye will meticulously search the web for you and your firm.
Contact us today for a demo. Source: http://www.worldwidewebsize.com/  Recently I was told by a longtime client that our customer service is “old fashioned, but in a good way”. Perhaps that is the last thing a technology company wants to hear. As president of SiteQuest Technologies, I reflected over what our client meant in that statement. We do pride ourselves on the fact that when you call our office with questions or in need of technical support, that your call is quickly answered by a live person. We don’t force our clients to use service tags, make them navigate unhelpful phone trees, or waste time waiting in queues listening to mundane hold music. We are there for our customers, with a readiness and willingness to meet and exceed their expectations. A compliance supervisor that has been using our applications for several years recently said that “SiteQuest provides top notch service. They are always happy to hear from me and have exceptional response time. No tickets, bills or painful processes, just a happy voice ready to help.” Another compliance supervisor utilizing our Eagle Eye program said; ‘I deal with vendor support in my day-to-day job. SiteQuest Technologies stands out because they provide prompt service and always take it to the next level to ensure I'm satisfied.” Another one of our clients said that, “I have been using SiteQuest Technologies’ Eagle Eye program for almost two years now and have had excellent results. The system does exactly what it was designed to do and we have received excellent customer service from the company. Highly recommended.” We make it easy to contact us with our phone numbers posted right on our website under the “Contact Us” menu header. We enjoy and look forward to our phone conversations with our clients who we know by name and personally as well.
We may be called “old fashioned” when it comes to our customer service, but we accept that name with pride in knowing that it sets us apart from others. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions or web supervision needs that might arise. James Cella President 801.896.0951 James@sitequesttech.com  In December, 2016 a firm in the Midwest was fined $12,500 from FINRA. FINRA found that the firm failed to provide evidence an adequate review of disclosed outside business activities for its registered representatives in outside business activity questionnaires submitted by the registered representatives. The findings also stated that the firm’s WSPs stated that the firm would review firm and registered representative websites monthly, and that the review will be evidenced in the firm’s Supervisory Journal. During the course of a three-month review period, the firm’s Supervisory Journals failed to contain documentation of any review of firm or registered representative websites. Have you heard of SQWatcher? It stands for SiteQuest Watcher. SQWatcher automatically scans, monitors, and archived the websites that you are required to supervise. Unlike other archival systems that may only take a screenshot to show you what the site “looked like” in the past, SQWatcher collects and documents the actual HTML code for every page on your clients’ website(s). This provides you the ability to not only view the page in question, but also browse the rest of the site as it appeared in the past as part of your review process. Do you have difficulties monitoring your representative’s outside business activities? Eagle Eye is a first of its kind application that is designed specifically to help the financial industry easily and effectively supervise the web. Aiding in your ability to find and document outside business activities. This time-saving solution automatically searches, documents, and reports on your web supervision responsibilities so you have everything you need to find and address issues before they are brought to your attention by a regulator. Eagle Eye and SQWatcher working together are a force multiplier in your supervisory scheme. The cost of these applications are just a fraction of the cost a fine. The average FINRA fine handed out in 2016 was $437,466. Contact us today for your personalized demo so that we can demonstrate how these programs will benefit your firm.
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About James CellaJames Cella is the President of a growing and innovative compliance technology provider called SiteQuest Technologies. James is a customer-centric individual and focuses on building and sustaining positive and lasting relationship with his clients and partners. James and his family are "super fans" of Utah Football and have attended nearly every home game since 2002. Go Utes! Archives
July 2019
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