CRCP Small Firm Scholarship Recipients

December 13, 2023
Volume 50

Guidance

Upcoming Deadlines and Effective Dates

SEC Request for Comment

Education and Compliance Programs

	CRCP Small Firm Scholarship Recipients FINRA and the Small Firm Advisory Committee (SFAC) are pleased to announce the recipients of the FINRA Institute at Georgetown Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional (CRCP)^® program Small Firm Scholarships: LeRonica Hill of Hines Securities, Inc.; Brian Hull of LoCorr Distributors; Martin Kyler of AEL Financial Services; Arturo Pulido of Navy Federal Investment Services, LLC. and Elmer Salvador of Compak. The five recipients were chosen from a wide range of talented applicants through a blind selection process by a subcommittee of the SFAC. Visit our website for more information on the CRCP^® Program. Information on the next scholarship application period will be available Summer 2024.
	FINRA’s Cyber and Analytics Unit (CAU) is highlighting an Okta data breach spanning from September 28 to October 17, 2023 that impacts Okta customer support system users. Firms should immediately determine whether they or their vendors utilize Okta and evaluate their exposure.
	Guidance On December 8, 2023, the SEC staff issued additional FAQs related to Form CRS. Visit the SEC website for details. FINRA’s Cyber and Analytics Unit (CAU) would like to remind member firms to prepare for cyber threats and attacks that may occur around the holidays. Member firms and their vendors should consider reviewing and validating their Written Supervisory Procedures (WSPs), continuing to educate their employees with respect to cybersecurity and effective practices, and testing incident response plans (IRPs) to prepare for, prevent, or recover from an incident. FINRA announced that it has fined BofA Securities, Inc. $24 million for engaging in more than 700 instances of spoofing through two former traders in U.S. Treasury secondary markets and related supervisory failures spanning more than six years. FINRA has ordered four firms to pay $2.6 million for violations relating to fully paid securities lending, including over $1 million in restitution to retail customers enrolled in fully paid securities lending programs and fines of $1.6 million for the firms’ related supervisory and advertising violations. FINRA has published Regulatory Notice 23-20 to discuss the guidance and other resources available to assist members with their compliance efforts in connection with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC)Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI). Cybersecurity Advisory on Effective Practices for Responding to a Cyber Incident – As a result of the continued proliferation of cybercrime, the Cyber and Analytics Unit (CAU) within FINRA’s Member Supervision program is issuing this advisory to highlight effective practices and considerations for member firms when responding to cyber incidents, including the benefits of voluntarily reporting information related to the incident to various entities.
	Upcoming Deadlines and Effective Dates Effective May 28, 2024, in accordance with the industry-led shortened settlement cycle from two business days (T+2) to one business day (T+1), FINRA will implement its changes for equity trade reporting. SEC Request for Comment The SEC requests comment on FINRA’s proposed rule change to amend FINRA Rule 2210 (Communications with the Public) to permit, when specified conditions are met, the use of projections of performance or targeted returns in institutional communications and specified communications to qualified purchasers. Comments are due December 15, 2023. See the Federal Register notice.
	Education and Compliance Programs Register for all of FINRA’s upcoming events: FINRA Institute at Georgetown Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional^® Program \| Washington DC Week I \| July 14-19, 2024 Week II \| Nov. 17-22, 2024 – Waitlist Available 2024 Cybersecurity Conference \| Feb. 6 \| New York, NY \| Hybrid Event 2024 Annual Conference \| May 14-16 \| Washington, DC \| Hybrid Event Save the Date: 2024 Advertising Regulation Conference \| Sept 26-27 \| Washington, DC \| Hybrid Event 2024 Small Firm Conference \| October 9-10 \| Chicago, IL \| Hybrid Event

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