Report from FINRA Board of Governors Meeting – May 2019

WASHINGTON – FINRA’s Board of Governors met on May 6 and 7 in New York City. During the meeting, the Board received updates on FINRA’s regulatory operations, including a status report on FINRA’s 529 plan self-reporting initiative and draft guidance around when Enforcement would grant firms credit for extraordinary cooperation during the enforcement process. That guidance will be published in a future Regulatory Notice. In addition, the Board’s Audit Committee reviewed a draft of FINRA’s Annual Financial Report, which the full Board will review and consider for approval prior to its publication this summer.

As previewed in FINRA CEO Robert Cook’s May 3 email to firms, the Board’s Regulatory Policy Committee considered two rule proposals: (1) proposed amendments to the Discovery Guide to require the production of insurance information in arbitration; and (2) modifications to the proposed outside activities requirements rule as the result of a retrospective rule review. The committee directed FINRA staff to gather additional information for its consideration at a future Board meeting.

“There was a vigorous discussion with respect to both rule proposals, and on both items we determined that we would discuss them further at a later meeting,” said Governor Elisse B. Walter, who chairs the Board’s Regulatory Policy Committee.  

More information regarding the Board's operations, including the membership and responsibilities of its committees, is available at www.finra.org/governance.

About FINRA

FINRA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to investor protection and market integrity. It regulates one critical part of the securities industry – brokerage firms doing business with the public in the United States. 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.