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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
Compliance Tools

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.  


Guidance

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.


Compliance Tools

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.


Compliance Tools
An alternative trading system (ATS) is an SEC-regulated trading venue in which a computerized system matches buy and sell orders of securities. An ATS is not a national securities exchange, an ATS may apply to the SEC to become a national securities exchange. An ATS that registers as a broker-dealer must also comply with the obligations associated with being a registered broker-dealer, including FINRA membership and compliance with FINRA rules.

Guidance

Utilize this checklist to determine if a private residence from which an associated person engages in supervisory functions meets the residential supervisory location (RSL) eligibility requirements and conditions. 


FAQ
A list of frequently asked questions related to UPC.

Events & Training

FINRA recently introduced a new interactive report card designed to help firms proactively detect potential compliance problems and strengthen their oversight capabilities. The optional report card provides near real-time insights and interactive features to help identify reporting deficiencies and enhance your compliance programs.

To view the report card, you must have the entitlement: Firm View Equity Report Card

Additional Webinars Coming Soon.


About FINRA

Background

A large number of registered representatives are also Certified Financial PlannerTM (CFP®) professionals. These professionals must complete a minimum of 30 continuing education (CE) hours every two years as part of the requirements for CFP certification renewal. Through the FINRA360 process, a number of firms expressed a desire for improved opportunities with regard to continuing education credits.


FAQ

In June 2009, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 09-31 to remind firms of their sales practice obligations relating to leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs). At the same time, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) issued guidance to the Canadian industry that is substantially similar to our Notice. In July we released a compliance podcast concerning the Notice and some of the issues that it raised.


About FINRA

Background

Small firms represent a critical portion of FINRA’s membership and often face regulatory challenges that are unique from their large firm counterparts. In an effort to provide additional compliance education and consistent with the FINRA360 goal of being a more effective regulator, FINRA launched The Small Firm Report in April 2018. The Small Firm Report is a free conference call series hosted by senior FINRA leaders who discuss trending topics, new rules and regulatory guidance and best practices, as well as answer questions from participants.


Compliance Tools

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).


Guidance
In November 2000, the SEC adopted Exchange Act Rule 11Ac1-5. Rule 11Ac1-5 is aimed at improving public disclosure of order execution quality. Under Rule 11Ac1-5, the SEC requires market centers that trade national market system securities to make monthly electronic reports.

Compliance Tools
Reports published for firms to monitor their performance in reporting disclosure and non-disclosure events and CRD late filing fee information.

About FINRA

Background


In March 2017, FINRA issued a Special Notice on its engagement programs as part of FINRA360, its comprehensive review of its operations. In response to the Special Notice, FINRA received a number of comments and suggestions regarding the usefulness of some advisory committees, their membership and their effectiveness as a vehicle for dialogue between FINRA and member firms. After carefully reviewing and analyzing the comments, FINRA is taking a number of actions to address the comments and suggestions. 


FAQ

The following FAQ is provided to facilitate firms' compliance with FINRA Rules 5190 (Notification Requirements for Offering Participants), 6275 (Withdrawal of Quotations) and 6435 (Withdrawal of Quotations in an OTC Equity Security in Compliance with SEC Regulation M). A comprehensive overview of these rules and related guidance is set forth in Regulatory Notice 08-74 and Regulatory Notice 12-19.


About FINRA

Background

Consistent with the transparency goals of FINRA360, FINRA, for the first time in 2018, published a statistical overview of the broker-dealer industry based on the data it collects in the course of its work. This report, called the FINRA Industry Snapshot 2018 , was the first annual statistical report on the brokerage firms, registered individuals and market activity that FINRA regulates.


Compliance Tools

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.


Compliance Tools
The New Account Application Template is a voluntary model brokerage account form that is provided as a resource to firms when they design or update their new account forms.

FAQ
Frequently asked questions related to OATS reporting requirements to OTC NMS Stocks.

FAQ
The following frequently asked questions provide information about the Central Registration Depository (CRD).

Compliance Tools

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.  


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."

Compliance Tools
The CE Regulatory Element Report is published each quarter for any firm that has had at least one representative take a Regulatory Element CE session during the quarter. The report provides information about the firm's performance as well as industry performance during the quarter for comparison.

FAQ
Following are "Frequently Asked Questions" regarding the Order Audit Trail System (OATS).