Successfully Navigating Through Regulatory Risks

We currently provide accounting, tax and consulting services to several broker-dealers, hedge funds, community banks, fund managers, and private equity firms. Our services to these financial services clients include audits, reviews and compilations of financial statements, income tax planning and compliance services, management succession planning, and strategic business planning services such as merger and acquisition related support.

Our team has in-depth expertise with the issues facing the financial services industry, including new Internal Revenue Code §457A, taxation of carried interests, reporting of foreign assets, and portfolio valuation services.

To stay informed of the latest industry changes that may affect your business, our financial services team is actively involved in the Venture Forum, Virginia Association of Community Banks, and Virginia Bankers Association.

Banking

Banking is one of the most regulated industries. Banks are continually dealing with the challenge of complying with the ever-expanding list of laws and regulations, including anti-money laundering, privacy and data protection, and consumer protection. The profitability of banks often depends on its marketing skills, efficient operations, and good risk management. Our professionals understand the industry and the risks and challenges that community banks face.

We provide a wide spectrum of risk advisory services to our clients including: Internal Audit Services, IT Control Assurance, and Regulatory Compliance Audits.

Broker-Dealers

We work with both mature and early-stage, privately-held entities, in the capacity of auditors, business advisors, tax advisors, and valuation experts. We have many clients in the securities broker-dealer industry which range from full service broker-dealers that perform trading, underwriting, M&A, institutional sales and research services, to retail and investment banking oriented broker-dealers.

We are intimately familiar with both industry practice and the regulatory requirements of the SEC and FINRA.

Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®)

At Keiter, our knowledge and experience with financial framework standards, such as GIPS®, will serve your company well in keeping with and going beyond routine compliance efforts. We have developed strong consultative relationships with our investment advisor clients, particularly related to compliance efforts regarding reporting investment performance and marketing materials. We closely monitor standard setter and regulatory developments that impact our investment advisor clients and meet with them frequently.

We expect this sector will continue to face increased regulatory scrutiny and need for third party independent assurance, particularly for investment performance results. We want to be a trusted advisor related to your compliance efforts. We believe the following benefits that we offer to our investment advisor clients differentiate us from our competitors:

Responsive, local technical experts with a focus on client service
High quality services that are subject to rigorous peer review (unlike non-CPA firms performing GIPS® services)
Timely consultations when standard setter or regulatory changes occur
Assistance in navigating complex GIPS® and SEC related performance standards

Investment Advisors

In March 2010 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Rule 206(4)-2 (the “Custody Rule”) became effective under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940. Certain investment advisers registered with the SEC and deemed to have custody of client assets, are required to engage a CPA firm registered with the PCAOB that is subject to regular inspection by the PCAOB.

We offer these services related to the Custody Rule including the surprise security examination requirement as well as reporting on internal controls for those advisors deemed to be “qualified” custodians. We will combine our experience, expertise and technical knowledge to perform these exams in the most cost-effective manner possible for your Company.

Investment and Hedge Funds

We provide taxation services to a variety of investment funds and have significant experience with the reporting requirements of limited liability companies and limited partnerships. We also have experience in hedge fund multistate tax issues, such as nexus and apportionment / allocation of income and the reporting requirements for financial interests in foreign bank accounts.

We provide individual income tax return services for individuals who are invested in these types of funds. We have experience in the special filing requirements for these funds at the individual level.

Insurance Companies

The insurance industry is highly regulated and companies are facing challenges from economic conditions, increased competition through direct marketing, and changing consumer buying habits. Through these challenging times, insurance companies are searching for ways to improve profitability through technology and expanding service offerings.

We provide Internal Audit Services and IT Controls Assurance to insurance companies.

Success Stories

We performed a Risk Assessment for an Insurance client to identify the audit universe and risk rate it based on Keiter's risk rating methodology. The client used this Risk Assessment to determine their Internal Audit department's audit schedule for the year, ensuring resources were focused on high risk areas.

We perform IT Audit and Internal Audits for a number of Banking institutions. For one bank, we made a number of recommendations for improvement that our client proceeded to implement prior to the state and federal examiners performed their review. Our client's proactiveness and outlined implementation plan enabled them to meet a higher percentage of examiner requirements.

Industries

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