Guidance

FINRA has made a number of changes in the area of regulatory policy to improve the policy development process and better ensure that our rules reflect current industry dynamics.

• Retrospective Rule Review
• Qualification Exam Restructuring
• Capital Raising

Background

The Military Personnel Financial Services Protection Act ("Military Act") was enacted to protect members of the U.S. Armed Forces from unscrupulous practices regarding sales of insurance, financial and investment products. Congress amended Section 15A(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 with the enactment of the Military Act to require FINRA, as a registered securities association, to adopt rules governing the sales or offers of sales of securities on the premises of any military installation to members of the U.S. Armed Forces or their dependents.¹

For any public offering that is required to be filed pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(a)(2), FINRA Rule 5110(a)(3)(A) describes that the required documents and information must be filed by participating members with FINRA no later than three business days after any documents are filed with or submitted to the SEC, including confidential filings or submissions, or any state securities commission or other similar U.S.

The TRACE Markup/Markdown Analysis Report is a monthly report designed to assist firms in their supervision activities by providing transparency into a portion of FINRA's surveillance program of corporate and agency fixed income transactions customer pricing.  

The TRACE Markup/Markdown Analysis Report is built upon logic developed to pair purchase and sale transactions reported to TRACE.  

Background

FINRA promotes the capital-raising process through appropriately tailored rules that are designed to promote transparency and to establish important standards of conduct for the benefit of all market participants, including investors and issuers participating in offerings.

The following FAQ on FINRA.org pertain to Qualification Exams:

The table below provides a reference description for all of the elements found for ATS Cross Manipulation exceptions identified during the month.  

The Market Order Timeliness Statistical Report is published monthly based upon firm-reported data detailing the number of customer market orders executed by your firm in NMS securities and classifying these orders based on time duration to execute. Supplementary Material .01 of FINRA Rule 5310 – Best Execution and Interpositioning - states that member firms must make every effort to execute marketable customer orders it receives fully and promptly.

Q. What is a duplicate disclosure and how is a duplicate disclosure created?

Background

An important part of FINRA's work involves providing investors the information and tools they require to make informed decisions about their assets and avoid dealings with bad actors. Several respondents to the Special Notice on Engagement issued in March 2017 provided a range of recommendations related to FINRA's efforts in the area of investor education—including the types of investor education content we develop and our dissemination strategies.

Q1. My firm has been granted an exemption from both the recording and reporting requirements of the OATS Rules and does not currently have an obligation to report to OATS. Does my firm’s OATS exemption extend to the Consolidated Audit Trail (“CAT”) recording and reporting requirements?

A1. No. Neither SEC Rule 613 nor the CAT NMS Plan provide exemptive relief to any class of broker-dealers.

The Web CRD Late Filing Fee Report is a monthly analysis of FINRA firms' ability to meet certain filing obligations. In accordance with FINRA rules, firms are required to submit information related to registered representatives. This report displays a firm's performance in submitting certain U4 and U5 filings in the required time frame.

Large Options Positions Reported (LOPR) - Listed Detail Data

1. Does Rule 5110 apply to public offerings that also are regulated under Rule 2310?

Yes. Rule 2310 regulates the underwriting terms and arrangements of direct participation programs and unlisted real estate investment trusts (collectively, “Investment Programs”) that are publicly offered. All public offerings in which a member participates, with limited exceptions provided in Rule 5110(h), must be filed, including Investment Programs.

Overview

This guidance is intended to provide direction on key information for a prospective and existing FINRA member firm that is contemplating to engage in activities utilizing an online platform or mobile application.¹ Under Standard 6 of FINRA’s Standards for Admission (Standard), an applicant’s online platform or mobile application that the applicant intends to employ for the purpose of conducting business with customers and other members must be adequate and provide reasonably for business continuity.

Background

In response to the March 2017 Special Notice on Engagement issued as part of FINRA360, FINRA received a number of comments and suggestions regarding engagement in connection with FINRA's rulemaking process. After carefully reviewing and analyzing the comments, FINRA is taking a number of actions to address the comments and suggestions that it received.

Rulemaking Process

On This Page

• FAQ Applicable to FINRA's Fingerprint Process
• FAQ Applicable to All Firms
• FAQ Applicable to Broker-Dealers Firms
• FAQ Applicable to Funding Portals
• FAQ Applicable to Investment Advisers

FAQ Applicable to FINRA’s Fingerprint Process

The Reporting Firm 10 Second Compliance Report Card are monthly status reports for market participant that contain counts of properly modified late trades, late trades that were not modified, and improperly modified trades.

Reporting Firm is defined as the firm that reported the Executing Party of the trade.