Social media compliance is a subject that elicits a range of reactions from planners, from groans to cautious, curious questions. But Leia Farmer, the deputy chief compliance officer at Securities America, is excited about it. This year, the independent broker-dealer launched a social media program for its advisers that has picked up 65 active users since May, and saw a brisk rise in participation after its sale to Ladenburg Thalmann closed Nov. 4.
The program has brought with it the usual tricky compliance issues, but Farmer isn’t fazed — far from it. “I love rules and regulations. I like things in black and white,” she says. Farmer also likes figuring out how to “mesh what the adviser wants to do with the regulations. It is in many senses a puzzle.”
