{"id":1795,"date":"2026-01-02T11:04:38","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T11:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iqeq.com\/us\/insights\/the-secs-latest-marketing-rule-risk-alert-key-takeaways-for-advisers\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T15:59:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T15:59:17","slug":"the-secs-latest-marketing-rule-risk-alert-key-takeaways-for-advisers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iqeq.com\/us\/insights\/the-secs-latest-marketing-rule-risk-alert-key-takeaways-for-advisers\/","title":{"rendered":"The SEC\u2019s latest Marketing Rule Risk Alert: key takeaways for advisers"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"text-block standard-spacing  \">    <div class=\"container fade-in\">\n        <p><em>By Lindsay Burckett-St. Laurent, Senior Managing Director and Andrew Ho, Associate Director\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On\u00a0 December 16, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission\u2019s (SEC) Division of Examinations issued a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/files\/exams-riskalert-mrkt-rule-2512-508.pdf\"><strong>Risk Alert<\/strong><\/a> highlighting persistent deficiencies under the Marketing Rule (Rule 206(4)-1). The alert focuses on three areas where advisers continue to fall short:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Testimonials and endorsements<\/li>\n<li>Oversight and compliance integration<\/li>\n<li>Third-party ratings<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The SEC\u2019s observations reflect areas where compliance weaknesses remain common leading to growing scrutiny of digital marketing, social media promotion and private fund solicitation.<\/p>\n<h2>Key findings<\/h2>\n<h3>1. Testimonials and endorsements<\/h3>\n<p>Examiners continue to identify failures in disclosure requirements, particularly in social media and referral programs. Common issues include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Missing or generic disclosures about promoter status, compensation and conflicts of interest<\/li>\n<li>Lack of written agreements with compensated promoters<\/li>\n<li>Payments to ineligible individuals with disciplinary histories<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Disclosures must be clear, specific and prominently displayed. Generic statements are insufficient and may be deemed misleading.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Oversight and compliance weaknesses<\/h3>\n<p>The Risk Alert emphasizes that written policies alone do not satisfy Rule 206(4)-7. Advisers must:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Implement active supervision of testimonial and endorsement activity<\/li>\n<li>Monitor referral arrangements and verify promoter eligibility<\/li>\n<li>Evidence compliance through documented controls and testing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is not a paperwork exercise; the SEC expects endorsement oversight to function as part of a firm\u2019s core compliance framework.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Third-party ratings<\/h3>\n<p>Advisers using awards or rankings in advertisements often fail to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Conduct due diligence on rating methodologies<\/li>\n<li>Disclose the rating provider, time period assessed and any compensation paid<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Incomplete disclosures undermine credibility and may mislead investors. Robust diligence and transparency are essential to avoid heightened exam scrutiny.<\/p>\n<h3>4. Recordkeeping<\/h3>\n<p>The SEC also expects firms to maintain supporting documentation, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Questionnaires or surveys underlying ratings<\/li>\n<li>Archived social media content and marketing approvals<\/li>\n<li>Written agreements with promoters<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Failure to retain these records can result in additional deficiencies during examinations.<\/p>\n<h2>Immediate steps for compliance teams<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Review all promotional content for testimonial and rating disclosures<\/li>\n<li>Audit promoter agreements and confirm eligibility<\/li>\n<li>Document due diligence processes for third-party ratings<\/li>\n<li>Integrate Marketing Rule compliance into audits, training, and supervisory reviews<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This Risk Alert signals intensified SEC scrutiny of digital marketing and private fund solicitation. Social media, referral programs and third-party platforms are now common exam focus areas. Advisers should treat digital marketing as a comparable risk to traditional advertising to reduce examination and enforcement exposure.<\/p>\n<h2>How we can help<\/h2>\n<p>IQ\u2011EQ supports advisers in building exam-ready Marketing Rule compliance frameworks. Our services include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Marketing and advertising reviews to assess promotional content and referral arrangements<\/li>\n<li>Gap analysis and compliance testing for testimonial oversight and third-party ratings<\/li>\n<li>Drafting promoter agreements and disclosure templates<\/li>\n<li>Employee training on Marketing Rule requirements and digital marketing risks<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Our <a href=\"https:\/\/iqeq.com\/us\/services\/compliance-consulting-u-s\/\">U.S. regulatory compliance<\/a> team provides both immediate remediation support and long-term strategic partnerships to help you maintain compliant marketing practices. <a href=\"https:\/\/iqeq.com\/us\/locations\/us-office-location\/#contact-us\"><strong>Get in touch today<\/strong><\/a><strong> to learn more.<\/strong><\/p>\n            <\/div>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":1796,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"expertise":[13],"service_category":[],"class_list":["post-1795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The SEC\u2019s latest Marketing Rule Risk Alert: key takeaways for advisers | IQ-EQ U.S.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/iqeq.com\/us\/insights\/the-secs-latest-marketing-rule-risk-alert-key-takeaways-for-advisers\/\" \/>\n<meta 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