Skip to main content

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
FAQ
1. How do I submit form filings to Web CRD? Upon completion of a filing...

Compliance Tools

The Sales Practice Complaint Report is a quarterly report that displays trends in complaints with Sales Practice problem codes as reported to FINRA pursuant to FINRA Rule 4530. Note: prior to July 1, 2011, this report showed complaints reported pursuant to NASD Rule 3070(c) or NYSE Rule 351(d). For the purposes of the report, Sales Practice Complaints are evaluated against the number of representatives registered with the firm and the sales revenue of the firm.


Events & Training

FINRA Spotlight Webinar

The Financial Crimes Spotlight is a free webinar series hosted by FINRA’s Financial Intelligence Unit that focuses on how to detect and protect against emerging financial crimes and cyber-related threats and trends. 

These events are open to FINRA member firms only. Participants must provide their firm's broker-dealer number when registering.

Upcoming Webinars

Additional Webinars Coming Soon.


FAQ
Frequently asked questions about FINRA BrokerCheck, a free tool for researching brokers, brokerage firms, investment advisers & investment adviser firms.

About FINRA

Background

Input from our stakeholders indicated that they would welcome greater transparency regarding FINRA's budget, especially its financial projections and potential use of fines. FINRA for many years has published an Annual Financial Report that is prepared and audited in accordance with GAAP6 that describes the prior year's finances and operations.


FAQ
The Limited Review program can help to streamline the review process and provide faster clearance for non-shelf public offering filings.

FAQ
1. What is meant by a "Queue?" A Queue is an online electronic listing...

2019 Exam Findings Report

Regulatory Obligations

Exchange Act Rule 15c3-3 (Customer Protection Rule) requires firms that maintain custody of customer securities and safeguard customer cash to segregate these assets from the firm’s proprietary business.


Compliance Tools

In Regulatory Notice 23-17, FINRA announced its decision, effective November 30, 2023, to discontinue collecting INSITE data, pursuant to Rule 4540, at this time.  As a result, effective November 30, 2023, the Customer Debits Report was retired from the FINRA Report Center.


Compliance Tools

Overview

When considering their obligations to provide all available breakpoint discounts on sales of Class A shares of front-end load mutual funds, member firms may review the following Breakpoint Checklist and Breakpoint Worksheet, which may help member firms evaluate their breakpoint compliance programs and confirm whether they are capturing all relevant categories of information to provide customers all available breakpoint discounts.


Guidance
The trading activity fee (TAF) is one of the regulatory fees FINRA assesses to recover the costs of supervising and regulating firms.

About FINRA

Background

Another issue we are studying through the lens of FINRA360 is branch office inspections. The responsibility of firms to supervise their associated persons is a critical component of federal broker-dealer regulation. Over the last few years, and in comments we have recently received, firms have raised questions about the manner in which they must conduct internal inspections, particularly for those offices or locations with a limited number of associated persons or where only operational or limited supervisory functions take place.


FAQ
Following are FAQs about FINRA’s research conflicts of interest rules.

FAQ
1. What is E-Bill and what can I do in E-Bill? E-Bill is FINRA's financial system that enables entitled users to view accounting details of the firm's Flex-Funding and Renewal accounts, fund the accounts, pay annual renewal assessments, and view and pay FINRA invoices.

Compliance Tools

The TRACE Quality of Markets Report Card for Securitized Products is a monthly status report for the reporting of transactions in Asset Backed Securities, Mortgage Backed Securities and other similar securities, collectively defined as "Securitized Products", to the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE). Firms are required to report trades in accordance with established FINRA rules and regulations.


FAQ

Q: Is the exemption under paragraph (f)(1)(B) of Rule 4360 for “members whose business is solely that of a Designated Market Maker... and who does not conduct business with the public” available to members whose business consists solely of market making activities on one or more national securities exchanges, regardless of whether the member is designated or registered in such capacity on a particular exchange? 


About FINRA

Updated as of January 30, 2025


Guidance

To assist firms in complying with SEC Rules regarding financial and operational matters, FINRA has published and will periodically update certain interpretations provided by the staff of the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets.


FAQ
Back-to-back scheduling is a feature that allows the scheduling of two appointments for the same day and same test center in one transaction. The following are frequently asked questions related to back-to-back scheduling.

Compliance Tools

The Cross-Market Equities Supervision Manipulation Report is a tool designed to provide firms feedback on exceptions that were generated based on the firm’s order entry and trading activity in a given surveillance period. The report covers two distinct analyses; layering and Cross-Market Quote Spoofing. This report is produced on a monthly basis.


Compliance Tools

This report provides a summary of the review activity for the filings submitted during the selected and previous reporting periods.

If you have questions regarding the content of this report, please contact FINRA Corporate Financing at (240) 386-4623.

Deals Filed During the Selected Period

Term

Description

FINRA Review Program


FAQ
1. What types of Dual Deficiencies exist? There are three deficiencies: RR/RR, RR/RA, RA/RA. A state may have different requirements for each registration combination. Contact the state regulator directly.