Cyber Advisory Highlights Increasing Risk at Third-Party Providers

Features

Cyber Advisory Highlights Increasing Risk at Third-Party Providers
FINRA alerted firms this week that we have been observing increased cyberattacks and outages since 2023 at third-party providers that members use, and provided resources to help mitigate these risks.

Small Firm Conference Call Next Week
Join FINRA President and CEO Robert Cook, VP of Member Relations and Education Kayte Toczylowski, and FINRA senior staff Sept. 16, 4:30-5:15 p.m. ET, to hear FINRA’s perspectives on succession planning and a new related resource for firms. Registration is open to all members.

Remote Inspections Pilot Program Deadline
Reminder: Firms participating in the first year of the Remote Inspections Pilot Program must submit to FINRA their third-quarter data and written supervisory procedures (WSPs) for the inspections by Oct. 15. Read Regulatory Notice 24-02 for details.

Guidance, Upcoming Deadlines, Effective Dates

New

Cyber Advisory: See entry above regarding ongoing threats at third-party providers.
Succession Planning Resource: As referenced in the Small Firm Conference Call entry above, we published a comprehensive resource to assist member firms with continuing membership applications (CMAs) as part of the implementation of a succession plan or an exit from the broker-dealer securities business.
Remote Inspections Pilot Program: See entry above reminding Pilot Year One participating firms of the Oct. 15 deadline for submitting data and WSPs.

Reminders

SEC Request for Comment: The SEC issued an order on Aug. 5 instituting proceedings to determine whether to approve or disapprove FINRA’s proposed rule change to adopt the new FINRA Rule 6500 Series (Securities Lending and Transparency Engine (SLATE)) to: (1) require reporting of securities loans; and (2) provide for the public dissemination of loan information. Rebuttal comments are due by Sept. 13. See the SEC Notice of Order.
CRCP Small Firm Scholarship: FINRA is offering five scholarships to industry professionals from small firms to attend the FINRA Institute at Georgetown Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional (CRCP) program. The scholarship covers full tuition for the entire two-week CRCP program, including room and board. FINRA is accepting applications through Sept. 13.
SEC Request for Comment: The SEC issued an order on Aug. 21 instituting proceedings to determine whether to approve or disapprove FINRA’s proposed rule change to amend FINRA Rule 12800 of the FINRA Code of Arbitration Procedure for Customer Disputes. The proposed rule change, as subsequently modified by Partial Amendment No. 1, would address the applicability of the Document Production Lists to simplified customer arbitrations administered under FINRA Rule 12800. Comments are due by Sept. 17 and rebuttal comments are due by Oct 1.
SFAC and Regional Committee Elections: FINRA has made separate calls for candidates to run for open seats on the Small Firm Advisory Committee (SFAC) and FINRA’s Regional Committees. Read the SFAC and Regional Committee Election Notices for details, including eligibility requirements. Eligible candidates will be included on the appropriate ballots if they submit a candidate profile form to FINRA’s Corporate Secretary by Oct. 3.
National Adjudicatory Council (NAC) Election: The deadline to submit petitions to become a candidate for the outstanding small firm seat on the NAC is Oct. 3. Information, including eligibility requirements and the candidate profile form, is detailed in the Election Notice.
WebEFT Retirement: In response to feedback from firms, FINRA has extended WebEFT access until April 30, 2025, for firms that have started their transition from WebEFT to APIs by Nov. 15, 2024. The extension gives those firms additional opportunity to complete the required development to fully onboard to the API platform. WebEFT subscribers not migrating to APIs will no longer have access to WebEFT after Nov. 15, 2024, as previously announced.

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 August 2024 Monthly Disciplinary Actions are available here.

Education and Compliance Programs

Free Conference on Disrupting the Cycle of Financial Fraud | Sept. 12 | Washington, DC | In-Person Event

Small Firm Conference Call: Succession Planning | Sept. 16 | 4:30-5:15 p.m. ET | Virtual Event

2024 FINRA Advertising Regulation Conference | Sept. 26-27 | Washington, DC | Hybrid Event

2024 FINRA Small Firm Conference | Oct. 9-10 | Chicago | Hybrid Event

Registration Systems Foundation Training | Oct. 15 | Washington, DC | In-Person Training

Disclosure Reporting Boot Camp l Oct. 16-17 l Washington, DC | In-Person Training

2024 FINRA Diversity Leadership Summit | Oct. 30-31 | Virtual Event

FINRA Institute at Georgetown Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional Program | Washington, DC

Week II: Capstone | Nov. 17-22 | In-Person Event | Sold Out
Week I: Foundation | July 13-18, 2025 | In-Person Event

2024 Compliance Outreach Program for Municipal Advisors and Municipal Dealers | Nov. 20-21 | Denver | Hybrid Event

2025 FINRA Annual Conference | May 13-15, 2025 | Washington, DC | Hybrid Event

Resources

Member Firm Hub – The latest guidance, resources, educational opportunities and more.

Membership Application Program (MAP) Tools – Guidance and other resources to help current members prepare for their continuing membership application (CMA) and new applicants prepare for a new member application (NMA).

FINRA101 – An investor-focused video series firms can leverage to help customers avoid scams, understand trusted contacts and more.

FINRA Unscripted – A biweekly podcast that discusses a range of topics important to the securities industry.

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About FINRA
FINRA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to investor protection and market integrity. FINRA regulates one critical part of the securities industry—member brokerage firms doing business with the public in the U.S. FINRA, overseen by the SEC, writes rules, examines for and enforces compliance with FINRA rules and federal securities laws, registers broker-dealer personnel and offers them education and training, and informs the investing public. In addition, FINRA provides surveillance and other regulatory services for equities and options markets, as well as trade reporting and other industry utilities. FINRA also administers a dispute resolution forum for investors and brokerage firms and their registered employees. For more information, visit www.finra.org.

Regulatory Contacts
FINRA By-Laws require member firms to maintain an email account on behalf of their executive representatives, to facilitate firm notification of important information. In light of this, requests from executive representatives to be removed from this email list cannot be honored.

Firms wishing to change the name or email address of their executive representative or designated assistant should use the FINRA Contact System: http://www.finra.org/FCS.

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