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Guidance

We offer guidance to firms in the form of podcasts, webinars, FAQs, reports, and more. Use the toggle below to find guidance by topic, type or date. 

5 A B C D E F G H I L M N O P Q R S T V
Regulatory and Compliance Alerts (RCA)
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October 01, 1995
Interpretive Letter

Short sales by options professionals established during the course of bona fide market making activities are exempt from the affirmative determination requirements, regardless of whether the short sales constitute a permitted offset under Regulation T.

July 26, 1995
Regulatory and Compliance Alerts (RCA)
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July 01, 1995
Regulatory and Compliance Alerts (RCA)
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March 31, 1995
Regulatory and Compliance Alerts (RCA)
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January 01, 1995
Regulatory and Compliance Alerts (RCA)
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October 01, 1994
Interpretive Letter
The applicability of Section 40 (Rule 3040) to situations in which a financial plan is delivered to a customer without an execution of a securities transaction.
September 27, 1994
Interpretive Letter

Requirements under NASD Rule 3030 (formerly Article III, Section 43) for investment seminar activities conducted by dually registered persons that charge fees from participants.

September 15, 1994
Interpretive Letter

Clarification of NASD Notice to Members 94-44 to situations in which a dually registered person maintains discretionary trading authority, determines portfolio changes, and prepares trade instructions for customer accounts and charges the accounts an asset-based fee.

August 05, 1994
Regulatory and Compliance Alerts (RCA)
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June 01, 1994
Regulatory and Compliance Alerts (RCA)
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March 01, 1994
Interpretive Letter
Suitability responsibilities of a discount broker/dealer when a customer is trading in options contracts (under former Article III, Section 2, now Rule 2310).
May 18, 1993
Interpretive Letter

Whether a proposed standby purchase agreement entered into between affiliate of a member and an issuer in connection with a public offering of the issuer's common stock could constitute an option.

February 24, 1993
Interpretive Letter
Application of NASD Notice to Members 90-52 to member firms that do not recommend securities transactions to their customers, but limit their business to accepting unsolicited orders from customers (under former Article III, Section 2, now Rule 2310).
November 13, 1990
Interpretive Letter

Cash rebates issued to pension plan customers with respect to secondary market transactions in outstanding securities (under former Article III, Section 24, now Rule 2740 and IM-2740).

December 22, 1988
FAQ
1. What is the Form BR? Form BR is the Uniform Branch Office Registration form that enables firms to "register" or "notice file" branch offices electronically through FINRA Gateway with FINRA, the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. (NYSE) and other participating jurisdictions.

Compliance Tools

The Municipal Continuing Disclosure Report displays statistics about transactions that your firm effected with customers. The report provides relevant information about the availability of official statements, annual financial filings, and event filings on the MSRB's Electronic Municipal Market Access system (EMMA) at the time the securities were sold or purchased. Specifically, the report shows counts of transactions with customers for which official statements and/or current annual financial filings were not available on EMMA at the time the transaction occurred.


FAQ

Q: If a member firm performs securities counts, verifications and comparisons as described in the January 6, 2026, Raymond James No Action Letter (the Letter),* would compliance with all circumstances set forth in the Letter satisfy the requirements of FINRA Rule 4522(b)(1) with respect to capital balance funds, as defined in that Letter?


Guidance
The Red Flags Rule requires that each "financial institution" or "creditor" --which include most member firms--implement a written program to detect, prevent and mitigate identity theft in connection with the opening or maintenance of "covered accounts."

FAQ
OATS Phase III Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ
1. What is the URL for CRD? FINRA recommends that FINRA-registered firms access CRD through the Firm Gateway. This site will allow you to access CRD as well as other FINRA applications. The Firm Gateway is located at https://firms.finra.org.

Compliance Tools

The Municipal Trades Below Minimum Denomination Report displays statistics about transactions your firm effected with customers where the denomination was below the minimum denomination provided to DTCC’s New Issue Information Dissemination Service (NIIDS) and/or reference data obtained from Thomson Reuters.  This report is designed to aid firms in monitoring their compliance with MSRB Rule G-15(f).  MSRB Rule G-15 (f) requires, with some exceptions, that firms should no


Events & Training

On March 23, FINRA introduced a new Reg M – Rule 5190 Filings Report Card. This resource is designed to provide firms with comprehensive insights into exceptions identified during submission reviews, showing information such as exceptions by exception type and exceptions by deal type, as well as compliance rates compared to industry benchmarks. By identifying potential areas of concern, and trends over time, this tool serves as both a compliance checkpoint and a resource for supervisory and compliance teams.