advice-standards
Investment Advice Standards & Regulatory Boundaries
Purpose
This skill covers the critical regulatory distinctions between investment education, general information, recommendations, and investment advice under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Regulation Best Interest, and related federal and state frameworks. It provides the analytical tools to determine when a person, platform, or algorithm crosses the line from permissible education or information into regulated investment advice requiring registration, and the compliance consequences of getting that determination wrong.
Layer
9 — Compliance & Regulatory Guidance
Direction
prospective
When to Use
- When evaluating whether a product, platform, tool, or AI application constitutes providing "investment advice" under the Advisers Act
- When designing fintech features that operate near the education/advice boundary
- When determining whether an individual or entity must register as an investment adviser
- When assessing whether broker-dealer communications constitute "recommendations" under Reg BI
- When building robo-advisory tools, AI chatbots, or digital platforms that discuss investments
- When analyzing whether content (newsletters, blogs, model portfolios, AI-generated text) qualifies for the publisher's exclusion
- When evaluating whether financial planning services cross into investment advice
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