New York Attorney General Letitia James on Tuesday announced that final rules have been adopted, some of which go into effect Wednesday, that strengthen state oversight of the investment advisory industry, marking “a significant step forward in our efforts to protect New York investors and oversee securities sales practices.”

“By moving to standardized [investment] electronic filings and payments, our systems will be more resilient to disruption in the future and will be better equipped to protect investors from frauds, especially critical as we have seen an exponential rise in these types of scams as a result of COVID-19,” said James in a news release Tuesday.