Broker-Dealers & Securities Firms
Financial operations support for broker-dealers
Every broker-dealer has to maintain a Financial and Operations Principal, and for a smaller firm that is an awkward requirement: a specialized role, needed continuously, at a fraction of a full-time load. The usual answers are a compliance consultancy that does not do the accounting, or an accountant who has never held the license.
Jacobs & Newmark is unusual for a firm this size in having both in the same person. Anthony Di John, CPA holds FINRA Series 27 and Series 99 and has sat in the seat, as CFO and FINOP at a financial services and investment banking firm, before joining the firm as a partner.
Broker-dealers should call to discuss what the firm is currently able to take on; availability for these engagements depends on the firm's existing commitments.
What makes this different
A reporting calendar that does not move
FOCUS reports run to a filing schedule set by the firm's classification, and the underlying books have to be closed and reconciled in time to support them. The accounting function and the regulatory function are the same work done once, not two workstreams.
Net capital as a live constraint
A broker-dealer's net capital position governs what the business can do, which means it is an operating number rather than a year-end disclosure. Accounting decisions that would be routine elsewhere carry a consequence here.
Examinations that read the records directly
Regulatory examination looks at the books, the reconciliations, and the supporting detail. Records maintained to a general standard and records maintained to this one are visibly different documents.
A specialized role at partial capacity
Smaller broker-dealers need the FINOP function continuously but rarely need it full-time, and the licence is not common among accountants. That mismatch is the reason the outsourced arrangement exists at all.
What we handle for these clients
Common questions
Broker-Dealers & Securities Firms, answered.
- Does Jacobs & Newmark have a Series 27 principal?
- Yes. Anthony Di John, CPA, a partner at Jacobs & Newmark, P.C., is licensed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and holds the Series 27 and Series 99 licenses. He has previously served as Chief Financial Officer and Financial and Operations Principal at a financial services and investment banking firm. Broker-dealers can reach the firm at (847) 537-0100.
- Can a CPA firm serve as an outsourced FINOP for a broker-dealer?
- The Financial and Operations Principal role requires a FINRA Series 27 licensed individual. Jacobs & Newmark, P.C. of Wheaton and Buffalo Grove, Illinois has a Series 27 licensed CPA partner with prior FINOP and CFO experience at a broker-dealer. Whether the firm can take on a particular engagement depends on its current commitments. Call (847) 537-0100 to discuss a specific firm.
- What accounting experience does Jacobs & Newmark have in financial services?
- Anthony Di John, CPA specializes in the securities industry, healthcare, private equity, and employee benefit plans, and spent over ten years at small and regional firms providing accounting, assurance, tax, and consulting services before serving as CFO and FINOP at a financial services and investment banking firm. John Whiston, CPA has assurance experience with private-equity-backed portfolio companies and insurance clients.
Other industries we specialize in
Tell us about the business.
A first conversation is about what you run, how the books are handled now, and what prompted you to look. If we are the right firm we will say so, and if we are not we will say that too.
- DuPage County
- Wheaton, IL
106 E Liberty Dr., Suite 201 - Lake County
- Buffalo Grove, IL
100 Lexington Dr., Suite 210 - Hours
- Monday – Friday, 9:00am – 5:00pm