SIFMA’s Compliance & Legal Society is the leading forum for compliance and legal professionals working in the financial services industry. With a rich 50-year history, it provides a unique opportunity for industry leaders and regulators to come together to share information and collaborate with the goal of ensuring our capital markets are the most fair, transparent and ethical in the world.

We just posted the program for our 2022 C&L Annual Seminar and are counting down until we gather in Orlando this March. Recently, we sat down for a conversation with David Sparks, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Private Client Group at Raymond James. Dave serves on the C&L Society Executive Committee and is co-chair of this year’s Seminar Planning Committee. Read on for a peek into our 50+ breakout sessions, our inaugural LGBTQ+ reception, and more.

You’ve been a vocal proponent for participation in SIFMA and our C&L Society. When did you first get involved?

In 2000, I left the SEC for private practice and started attending SIFMA’s C&L Annual Seminar in earnest. Later, I moved in-house and so was able to experience the Seminar from multiple perspectives.

The opportunity to join the Society’s Executive Committee presented itself in 2018 while I was General Counsel for the Private Client Group at Raymond James. My role is to guide internal and external policy and also educate regulators – on a federal and state level – with new proposals about what is best for the industry at large. SIFMA does an excellent job providing access to regulators and helping us advocate for our firms and develop regulations that are appropriate for a diversity of business models. I’ve served on the ExCo’s Nominating and Governance Committee. I joined the Seminar Planning Committee and am honored to be Co-Chair this year. I’ve also worked on efforts to advance diversity, equity and inclusion and am proud to have served as a chair of our Future Leaders.

Being part of this dynamic group allows each of us to deepen relationships across the industry. Instead of knowing of each other, we get to know each other while working shoulder to shoulder. I tell colleagues at firms who aren’t members that participation in SIFMA benefits both the employee and employer. In addition to personal development, you gain insight into other business models with issues you may not have even considered.

The Seminar Planning Committee maps out an amazing program with mainstage sessions and panel discussions but also 50+ breakout sessions. How do you decide what makes the cut and how to get the widest range of perspectives?

Our Planning Committee does an excellent job of preserving core programming that has stood the test of time over decades while also introducing recent market developments. This year, we’re keenly focused on the significant developments we’ve experienced over the past 12 months. What jumps out to me are our sessions on SPACs, Security Based Swaps Dealers and Digital Engagement Practices. Also, our session on M&A for wealth managers which has been top-of-mind for the past 12-18 months. That session covers practices – deal structuring, earnouts, etc – but also considerations like what overlays are present for organizations that are bank holding companies.

Our six breakout session tracks are Banking, Capital Markets, Compliance & Technology, Ethics & DEI, Litigation, Enforcement & Legal, and Retail, Private Client & Arbitration. I personally split my breakout session time 50/50 between what is in my comfort zone and what is not. I stretch. Half my time is spent in my space, the Retail, Private Client and Arbitration track. Although I don’t handle litigation or regulatory inquiries specifically, I attend some of the sessions in that track and others. This is the one opportunity people have each year to learn about topics they may not be exposed to in their day-to-day lives. If you take advantage, you can be conversant when you interact with colleagues in other areas.

I’d also add that, in addition to our breakout sessions, we have a series of Lunch & Learns which offer deep dives into products and services with experts at top firms. My colleague, Cynthia Adams, will go into those in more detail in next month’s newsletter. Those sessions convene people with a common interest in an educational forum with networking afterwards. You’ll be in a room to talk informally with people who have a unique focus on a shared issue.

The Seminar isn’t just about the program on offer – it’s about who is there. Can you talk about the spectrum of participants in attendance?

We have compliance and legal professionals from across the financial industry but also regulators, law firms and our community of solution providers. In the past several years, we’ve made a concerted effort to expand law firm participation in the program. The key reason for that is that law firms get to see the same issue from so many angles. There could be one SEC sweep on the Street but multiple clients included. As a result, these law firms have looked at multiple fact patterns, applied the same law to multiple clients and seen multiple outcomes. They add a great perspective and bring a wealth of experience to the table.

Bringing many people together, with more opinions and more insights, only benefits the industry at large. It helps us and the clients we serve.

From our clients to our colleagues, the industry understands that fostering diversity, equity and inclusion is critical. How is the C&L Society working to elevate visibility for this issue?

As a gay professional in this industry, I’m extremely proud of the support the ExCo has shown for DE&I initiatives. Three years ago, I raised the opportunity we have to support and sponsor efforts for the LGBTQ+ community, which makes up 10% of the U.S. population. It’s almost a misnomer to say LGBTQ+ is a single group: it cuts across gender, ethnic and religious lines – it encompasses everyone. Any efforts we undertake should be fully cognizant of how inclusive that group is.

The pandemic interrupted our first attempt, but we’ll host the inaugural LGBTQ+ cocktail reception at this year’s Seminar. It will be held on Monday evening – whether you identify as LGBTQ+ or support those who do, we want to see you there! I hope this event garners excitement and serves as a forum for people to think about SIFMA as a forum for future engagement. I am personally committed to exploring future events or an affinity program that draws from the LGBTQ+ community. Visibility is key. If we elevate the concept, we will make a space where people feel comfortable and confident. That is how you create a culture of inclusivity.

While we’re talking about the future of the industry, can you tell us about the C&L Society’s Future Leaders?

Future Leaders is a fantastic opportunity. It was co-founded by Dave Bartholomew and John O’Connell and I’m honored to have sponsored the group as well. Getting to know these professionals has been a rewarding experience. These individuals are not entry level: they have distinguished themselves in their firms and have earned this spot. The group provides a much-needed progression for this talent to get involved with the Society at an earlier stage in their career. They participate in our meetings, speak on hot topics, organize events, and help plan our Annual Seminar.

Conversations at the ExCo are informed by decades of experience; this upcoming group gives us exposure to each other and a forum to share fresh ideas. Future Leaders have 5+ years exposure to SIFMA before they might be invited to join the ExCo. We encourage them to use it as a network-building opportunity: this is a forum to build relationships and allow them to mature.

That’s what it’s all about – building relationships that last.

David Sparks is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Private Client Group at Raymond James. To receive our monthly C&L Society Update and more, please visit my.sifma.org. To reconnect with colleagues and meet new ones, register to join us at the 2022 SIFMA C&L Annual Seminar, taking place from March 20–23 in Orlando.