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Be Aware of Support Center Ad Scams

July 31, 2024
Volume 31
 


 

guidance



Guidance


 

disciplinary actions



Disciplinary Actions
 

upcoming



Upcoming Deadlines and Effective Dates
 

education



Education and Compliance Programs



 




Be Aware of Support Center Ad Scams
FINRA has alerted firms and investors to a scam in which bad actors are using sponsored search result ads often seen on Google or Bing to impersonate some FINRA member firms’ support centers to try to steal funds or personal information. Read a new Investor Insights article for details and for tips to avoid the scam.
 


Leverage FINRA’s Investor Alerts
FINRA’s Investor Insights, which help the public stay informed about new or complex products, scams and other investing issues, are available for member firms to share directly with customers. Articles include the new one on support center ad scams as well as ones on understanding the earnings season, capital gains and more. 
 


ICYMI: FINRA Unscripted Podcast
The latest episode provides an update on FINRA’s crypto asset work and the Crypto Hub, an enterprise-wide strategy for keeping up with the evolving crypto asset regulatory landscape. The podcast digs into the results of a recent survey of member firms about their crypto-asset touchpoints to discuss the new spot Bitcoin ETP market and more.
 

 

 Guidance 
 

New

  • Regulatory Notice: FINRA reminds firms of our policy prohibiting members and their employees from making audio or video recordings of conversations between FINRA staff and member firm personnel during any calls or meetings related to FINRA’s oversight functions. Read the Notice.
     

Reminders

  • Residential Supervisory Locations (RSL) Update: We alerted firms to enhanced functionality for initial Form BR (Uniform Branch Office Registration Form) submissions that allow firms to de-select FINRA when establishing a new location designated as an RSL that needs to be registered or notice filed with a jurisdiction, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), or both, as a branch office. See the updated RSL FAQs for additional information.

     
  • Cybersecurity Alert Regarding CrowdStrike IT Service Disruption: Firms should be aware they may experience secondary attacks from cyber criminals seeking to leverage the July 19 service outage affecting Microsoft operating systems to carry out social engineering and phishing attacks. Read the alert.
     

Disciplinary Actions

FINRA publishes disciplinary actions to remind registered representatives and firms of specific conduct that violates FINRA rules and may result in disciplinary action. The July 2024 Monthly Disciplinary Actions are available here
 

 Upcoming Deadlines and Effective Dates

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Research (OFR) has adopted a final rule establishing a data collection for certain non-centrally cleared bilateral transactions in the U.S. repurchase agreement market. This collection requires daily reporting to that office by certain brokers, dealers and other financial companies with large exposures to non-centrally cleared bilateral repo. The OFR encourages Category 1 Covered Reporters, focused on brokers and dealers, to begin testing as early as possible and no later than 90 days before the Dec. 2 compliance date. Visit the OFR’s website for more information.

 

 Education and Compliance Programs

Register for upcoming events:

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Regulatory Contacts
FINRA By-Laws require member firms to maintain an Internet email account on behalf of their executive representatives. This facilitates firm notification of important publications and information added to the FINRA website. 

Firms wishing to change the name or email address of their executive representative or designated assistant should do so through the FINRA Contact System (FCS). See http://www.finra.org/FCS for further information. Requests from executive representatives to be removed from this email notification list cannot be honored. 

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