Description

A focused course, tailored for you

The Broker-Dealer Senior Compliance Manager Issues-Log Playbook

Run a defensible Reg BI, supervision, and AML issues log that closes findings before the next exam window opens.

Aged findings in the compliance issues log are the single piece of evidence an examiner reaches for first. Every item past 60 days without a remediation owner becomes a supervisory deficiency that goes into the exam report.

$199 one-time

Tailored to your situation. Access within 24 hours. 30-day money-back.

Includes a hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access, generated for your specific situation.

Why this course

A Senior Manager of Compliance at a US broker-dealer sits at the join of three workstreams. Reg BI documentation reviews land from the branch sample. Dual-review breaks land from the supervisory queue. AML alert dispositions land from the QC second pass. The issues log is the artefact that ties all three to a closing date and an owner. When items age, the read-out to the CCO loses credibility, the next exam cycle inherits the backlog, and FINRA staff write the deficiency for you. The discipline that prevents this is not new technology. It is a tight remediation cadence with named owners, evidence links, and a weekly QC sweep that catches new breaks before they age.

What you walk away with

Close every aged finding in the current log within the cycle.
Build a CCO read-out that the General Counsel signs without rework.
Stand up a weekly QC sweep that surfaces breaks before they age.
Write a supervisory deficiency memo that auditors accept on first review.
Map every open item to a Reg BI, supervision, or AML control owner.

The 12 modules

Module 1. The issues-log structure that survives exam scrutiny

What columns belong in the log, what columns belong in the supporting evidence repository, and why the two are kept separate. How a Senior Manager organises owner, opening date, root cause, remediation step, evidence link, and closing approval so an examiner can walk it without follow-up questions. Templates for the log and the evidence index.

Module 2. Reg BI documentation findings: closing the branch sample backlog

How the branch sample produces Reg BI documentation gaps, how to triage them against the rule text, and how to write the remediation note that holds up under FINRA scrutiny. Worked examples for the three most common gap types: disclosure timing, conflicts narrative, and care obligation evidence. The branch-manager attestation template that closes each item.

Module 3. Supervisory dual-review breaks and the memo that closes them

Why dual-review breaks cluster around principal review of options accounts, margin activity, and outside business activities. How to reconstruct the missing review, how to write the supervisory deficiency memo that names the gap without inviting an enforcement referral, and how to evidence the corrective control that prevents recurrence.

Module 4. AML alert dispositions: the QC second-pass discipline

How a QC second pass on AML alert dispositions surfaces aged items, why the disposition narrative is the deficiency more often than the alert itself, and how to rewrite the narrative so the SAR decision rationale is defensible. Worked examples for structuring, layering, and integration alerts.

Module 5. Root-cause analysis that holds up at the CCO read-out

The five-whys discipline applied to compliance findings, not just operational ones. How to distinguish a process gap from a training gap from a system gap from a culture gap, and why the CCO read-out fails when the root cause is named at the wrong layer. The root-cause template that the General Counsel signs.

Module 6. Building the CCO read-out the General Counsel signs

What a CCO wants to see when the issues log lands on the agenda. The four-slide structure: aged-item summary, root-cause clusters, remediation cadence, and the named-owner accountability matrix. Why the read-out loses the room when the slide count exceeds six. Templates and worked examples for the slides.

Module 7. The weekly QC sweep that catches breaks before they age

How to design a weekly QC sweep across the Reg BI sample, the supervisory queue, and the AML disposition queue so new breaks surface inside seven days. The sampling matrix, the QC scorecard, and the escalation path that routes an aged-risk item to the issues log before it crosses the 30-day mark.

Module 8. Examiner conversations: the read-aheads and the in-room discipline

What a FINRA examiner reads before the on-site, what a SEC examiner reads, and why the issues log is the artefact they reach for first. How to prepare the read-ahead pack, how to brief the CCO before the on-site, and the in-room discipline that keeps follow-up requests narrow rather than open-ended.

Module 9. Supervisory deficiency memos that auditors accept on first review

The structure of a defensible supervisory deficiency memo. The header fields the internal audit team checks first, the root-cause narrative that holds up at the audit committee, and the corrective-action plan that names the owner, the evidence, and the closing date. Worked examples for three common deficiency types.

Module 10. Mapping every open item to a control owner

Why an issues log without named control owners becomes a list of complaints. How to map every open item to a Reg BI, supervision, or AML control, how to name the owner at the right layer, and how to write the owner-accountability statement that lives on the log row. The control-owner matrix template.

Module 11. Closing the cycle: the cadence that prevents backlog

The monthly closing cadence that keeps the aged-item count near zero. The weekly stand-up structure, the monthly read-out structure, the quarterly audit-committee touchpoint, and the annual policy refresh that resets the baseline. The calendar template the Senior Manager runs the cycle from.

Module 12. The Senior Manager's evidence repository

How to organise the evidence repository so it answers an examiner request inside an hour, not a week. The folder structure that maps to the issues log, the naming convention that survives staff turnover, and the retention discipline that meets the recordkeeping rule without ballooning storage cost. The repository template.

How this addresses your situation

Specific modules that map to what you said you are dealing with.

Aged findings: modules 1, 2, 3, 4, 9 give the closing discipline.

CCO read-out preparation: modules 5, 6, 10 give the slide structure and the accountability matrix.

Weekly QC discipline: modules 7, 11 give the cadence and the scorecard.

Examiner preparation: modules 8, 12 give the read-ahead pack and the evidence repository.

What you get with this course

12 written modules with downloadable templates for every artefact named in the module summaries.
The issues-log template, the evidence-index template, and the control-owner matrix.
The four-slide CCO read-out template and the supervisory deficiency memo template.
The weekly QC scorecard and the monthly closing cadence calendar.
The hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.

What you will have in hand by Day 1, Week 1, Month 1

Within 24 hours: learning environment account is provisioned and the per-buyer implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.

Weeks 1 to 2: modules 1 to 4 close the aged Reg BI, supervision, and AML items in the current log.

Weeks 3 to 4: modules 5 to 8 build the CCO read-out and prepare the examiner read-ahead pack.

Weeks 5 to 8: modules 9 to 12 stand up the weekly QC sweep, the control-owner matrix, and the evidence repository.

Before and after

Before

Aged findings cluster past 60 days, the CCO read-out loses credibility, examiners write the deficiency for you, and the next cycle inherits the backlog.

After

Aged items close inside the cycle, the CCO read-out signs without rework, weekly QC catches breaks before they age, and examiner conversations stay narrow.

What happens if you do not address this

An issues log with aged Reg BI, supervision, and AML items is the single artefact that turns a routine exam into a deficiency letter. Once the deficiency lands, the Senior Manager owns a remediation plan with a clock that the regulator runs.

Who it is for

Senior Manager of Compliance at a US broker-dealer or dually-registered RIA. Owns or co-owns the issues log. Reports to a CCO who reports to the General Counsel or the Head of Risk. Has examiner conversations as the regular cadence, not the exception.

Who this is NOT for. Not for first-line registered representatives, not for retail branch managers, not for compliance officers whose remit stops at policy drafting. This course assumes you sit at the issues-log layer and own the closing cadence.

How it arrives

Text-based course in the Art of Service learning environment, plus downloadable templates and worked examples for every module, plus the hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.

Time investment. Roughly two hours per module across eight weeks, with the heavier lift in modules 1 to 4 where the aged items close.

Why $199 is the right number

A SIFMA or NSCP conference covers the policy debate at the sector level. A FINRA enforcement-letter analysis covers what went wrong elsewhere. Neither closes the items on your log. This course is the closing discipline, written for the Senior Manager who owns the cadence.

FAQ

Does this cover dually-registered RIA supervision as well as broker-dealer supervision?

Yes. The supervisory dual-review and the issues-log discipline apply to both sides. The Reg BI module is broker-dealer specific; the AML and supervision modules cross both.

Is the implementation playbook generic or hand-built?

Hand-built against the issues-log structure you describe at provisioning. The playbook is not a template fill-in; it is a written-for-you artefact.

What if my issues log is in a GRC tool and not a spreadsheet?

The discipline is independent of the tool. The templates map cleanly to Archer, ServiceNow GRC, Workiva, and spreadsheet logs. The playbook adapts to your tool.

How fresh is the regulatory content?

Reg BI, FINRA supervisory expectations, and BSA AML disposition standards are reviewed against the current rule text and the most recent enforcement actions before each cohort opens.

30-day money-back guarantee. If after a week of working through the materials this is not what you needed, reply to the receipt email and a full refund is processed. No questions, no forms.

Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.