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.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
I
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
Regulatory Obligations
Regulation SHO Rules 200 to 204 require firms to address risks relating to market manipulation, market liquidity and investor confidence by regulating excessive and “naked” short sales so that purchasers of securities from short sellers receive their securities positions in a timely manner. Regulation SHO requires firms to appropriately mark their securities orders; confirm that they have deliverable securities to complete short sale transactions; and have a process to close-out fails to deliver within the required timeframes.
The Executing Firm 10 Second Compliance Report Card is a monthly status report for trades that another firm reported on behalf of the market participant. The report contains counts of properly modified late trades, late trades that were not modified, and improperly modified trades.
FINRA Rule 3170 (Tape Recording of Registered Persons by Certain Firms)—commonly referred to as the “Taping Rule”— requires certain firms to install taping systems to record all telephone conversations between their registered persons and existing and potential customers, review those recordings and file reports with FINRA.
Overview – FINRA’s Funding Portal Rules (FP Rules) apply to firms that register with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as funding portals pursuant to the SEC’s Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) and that become FINRA FP members.
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.
Regulatory Obligations
Exchange Act Rule 15c3-1 (Net Capital Rule) requires firms to maintain net capital at specific levels to protect customers and creditors from monetary losses that can occur when firms fail.
The Contra Executing Firm 20 Minute Compliance report card is a monthly status report that provides information on transactions in which a firm failed, as the Contra Firm to accept / decline / compare trades within 20 minutes after execution, in apparent violation of FINRA Rules 7230A(b) and/or 7330(b).
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.
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.
The Market Order Timeliness (MOT) Report Card is a monthly status report based upon data reported to OATS detailing the number of customer market orders executed by your firm in NMS securities that were delayed in receiving a full execution in possible violation of both rules regarding full and prompt execution of customer market orders and the Best Execution rule. If non-compliance with these rules is found to exist, your firm may be found to be in violation of FINRA Rules 5310 and 5320.
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.
A motion to dismiss is a request made by a party to the arbitrator(s) to remove some or all claims raised by another party filing a claim. Rule 12504 of the Code of Arbitration Procedure for Customer Disputes and Rule 13504 of the Code of Arbitration Procedure for Industry Disputes (collectively, the Codes) establish procedures that govern motions to dismiss.
The MSRB 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 of fixed income transactions' customer pricing.
The MSRB Markup/Markdown Analysis Report is built upon logic developed to pair purchase and sale transactions reported to EMMA.