Bedford and Main Financial Consulting provides services primarily catering to the Broker-Dealer and Registered Investment Advisor communities. Founded in 2012, our fundamental areas of expertise are: Operations, Compliance, and Management. Our core services focus on traditional consulting projects, anti-money laundering (AML) testing and compliance, and expert witness litigation and testimony.
Bedford and Main is listed in the FINRA Compliance Vendor Directory
We enjoy supporting broker-dealers of all shapes and sizes. Our client list includes introducing brokers, correspondent clearing brokers, clearing firms. prop trading firms, Fintech brokers and new broker-dealer start-ups. Our testimonial page speaks for itself: www.BedfordandMain.com/testimonials.
Operations and Compliance Expertise: Our experience is both deeply rooted, yet freshly relevant. With 40 years of hands-on senior experience, our management has been actively building, growing and restructuring broker-dealers. While based in the metropolitan Philadelphia area, Bedford and Main's client base is global. Our “bread and butter” Operations expertise focuses on conversions and project management. While on the Compliance side, we specialize in areas related to Supervision, Anti-Money Laundering, and Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) settlements.
Bedford and Main is a supporter of SIFMA and the Financial Services Institute.
Consulting Specialties Include:
- Conversion Specialist – systems, staffing, back-office, firm mergers
- Strategic Project Management
- Clearing Firms and Securities Processing Platforms
- FINRA Compliance Issues, specializing in:
- Supervision Issues
- Anti-Money Laundering (AML)
- Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC)
- Anti-Money Laundering Independent Annual Tests (FINRA 3310)
- Contract Negotiations
- Broker-dealer Start-ups – FINRA New Membership Application Process (NMA)
- Selling “Shell” Firms and other Mergers & Acquisitions Activity
Our clients appreciate how valuable it is to work with a consultant who has held Series 3, 7, 24, 27 and 63 licenses, and is a FINRA Dispute Resolution Arbitrator and a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS). Moreover, the insights we provide resulting from our securities expert witness engagements often prove invaluable.
View John Foster's Expert Witness Profile.
As a consulting firm that focuses on broker-dealers (B-Ds), we often have discussions with clients, particularly new start-up firms, who are looking to understand the big picture of what makes up the industry. This paper will attempt to expand on some of the particular points noted by FINRA and to provide more color on industry trends related to the makeup, business models, and structure of the current broker-dealer environment.