(a)(1) Each member shall be assessed a registration fee of $75.00 and a branch office system processing fee of $75.00 upon the registration of each branch office, as defined in the By-Laws.
(2) FINRA shall waive, for the first branch office registered by a member, payment of the $75.00 registration fee and the $75.00 branch office system processing fee (where such fees have been assessed pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)).
(3) Each member also shall be assessed:
(A) an annual registration fee of:
(i) $175, for each of the first 250 branch offices registered by the member;
(ii) $150, for each of branch offices 251 to 500 registered by the member;
(iii) $125, for each of branch offices 501 to 1,000 registered by the member;
(iv) $100, for each of branch offices 1,001 to 2,000 registered by the member;
(v) $75, for every branch office greater than 2,000 registered by the member; and
(B) an annual branch office system processing fee of $75.00 per registered branch.
(4) FINRA shall waive, for one branch office per member per year, payment of the $175 annual registration fee (where such fee has been assessed pursuant to paragraph (a)(3)(A)(i) and the $75.00 annual branch office system processing fee assessed pursuant to paragraph (a)(3)(B).
(b) FINRA shall assess each member a fee of:
(1) $125.00 for each initial Form U4 filed by the member with FINRA for the registration of a representative or principal, except that the following discounts shall apply to the filing of Forms U4 to transfer the registration of representatives or principals in connection with acquisition of all or a part of a member's business by another member:
|
Number of Registered Personnel Transferred
|
Discount
|
|
1,000–1,999
|
10%
|
|
2,000–2,999
|
20%
|
|
3,000–3,999
|
30%
|
|
4,000–4,999
|
40%
|
|
5,000 and over
|
50%
|
(2) $50.00 for each initial Form U5 filed by the member with FINRA for the termination of a registered representative or registered principal, plus a late filing fee of $100.00 if the member fails to file the initial Form U5 within 30 days after the date of termination;
(3) $155.00 for the additional processing of each initial or amended Form U4, Form U5 or Form BD that includes the initial reporting, amendment, or certification of one or more disclosure events or proceedings;
(4) $20.00 for processing and posting to the CRD system each set of fingerprints submitted electronically by the member to FINRA, plus any other charge that may be imposed by the United States Department of Justice for processing each set of fingerprints;
(5) $30.00 for processing and posting to the CRD system each set of fingerprint cards submitted in non-electronic format by the member to FINRA, plus any other charge that may be imposed by the United States Department of Justice for processing each set of fingerprints;
(6) $30.00 for processing and posting to the CRD system each set of fingerprint results and identifying information that have been processed through another self-regulatory organization and submitted by a member to FINRA;
(7) $70.00 annually for each of the member's registered representatives and principals for system processing; and
(8) 10% of a member's final annual renewal assessment or $100, whichever is greater, with a maximum charge of $5,000, if the member fails timely to pay the amount indicated on its preliminary annual renewal statement.
(c) The following fees shall be assessed to each individual who takes an examination as described below. These fees are in addition to the registration fee described in paragraph (b) and any other fees that the owner of an examination that FINRA administers may assess.
| Examination Number |
Examination Name |
Examination Fee |
| N/A |
Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Examination |
$80 |
| Series 4 |
Registered Options Principal Examination |
$155 |
| Series 6 |
Investment Company Products and Variable Contracts Representative Examination |
$75 |
| Series 7 |
General Securities Representative Examination |
$300 |
| Series 9 |
General Securities Sales Supervisor Examination — Options Module |
$130 |
| Series 10 |
General Securities Sales Supervisor Examination — General Module |
$175 |
| Series 14 |
Compliance Official Examination |
$350 |
| Series 16 |
Supervisory Analyst Examination |
$245 |
| Series 22 |
Direct Participation Programs Representative Examination |
$60 |
| Series 23 |
General Securities Principal Examination — Sales Supervisor Module |
$105 |
| Series 24 |
General Securities Principal Examination |
$175 |
| Series 26 |
Investment Company Products and Variable Contracts Principal Examination |
$150 |
| Series 27 |
Financial and Operations Principal Examination |
$175 |
| Series 28 |
Introducing Broker-Dealer Financial and Operations Principal Examination |
$150 |
| Series 39 |
Direct Participation Programs Principal Examination |
$100 |
| Series 50 |
Municipal Advisor Representative Examination |
$115 |
| Series 51 |
Municipal Fund Securities Limited Principal Examination |
$105 |
| Series 52 |
Municipal Securities Representative Examination |
$110 |
| Series 53 |
Municipal Securities Principal Examination |
$115 |
| Series 54 |
Municipal Advisor Principal Examination |
$115 |
| Series 57 |
Securities Trader Examination |
$80 |
| Series 79 |
Investment Banking Representative Examination |
$300 |
| Series 82 |
Private Securities Offering Representative Examination |
$60 |
| Series 86 |
Research Analyst Examination — Analysis |
$225 |
| Series 87 |
Research Analyst Examination — Regulatory |
$150 |
| Series 99 |
Operations Professional Examination |
$60 |
(1) Persons for whom any qualification examination is waived pursuant to [Rule 1210.03] shall be assessed as an application fee the examination fee for each qualification examination so waived.
(2) There shall be an additional service charge of $15.00 for any examination or Regulatory Element session taken in a test center located outside the territorial limits of the United States.
(3) There shall be a service charge equal to the examination or Regulatory Element session fee assessed to each individual who, having made an appointment for an administration of an examination listed above or a test center-based Regulatory Element session, fails to timely appear for such appointment or cancels or reschedules such appointment within two business days prior to the appointment date.
(4) There shall be a service charge equal to one-half of the examination or Regulatory Element session fee assessed to each individual who, having made an appointment for an administration of an examination listed above or a test center-based Regulatory Element session, cancels or reschedules such appointment three to 10 business days prior to the appointment date.
(d) In the event a member believes it should not be required to pay the late filing fee, it shall be entitled to a hearing in accordance with the procedures set forth in the
Rule 9520 Series.
(e)(1) In addition to any dues or fees otherwise payable, each applicant for membership shall be assessed an application fee, based on the number of registered persons proposed to be associated with the applicant at the time the application is filed, as outlined in the tables below:
| Number of Registered Persons Associated with Applicant |
Small |
Medium |
Large |
| Tier 1 |
1–10 |
151–300 |
501–1,000 |
| Tier 2 |
11–100 |
301–500 |
1,001–5,000 |
| Tier 3 |
101–150 |
N/A |
>5,000 |
| Application Fee per Tier |
Small |
Medium |
Large |
| Tier 1 |
$7,500 |
$25,000 |
$35,000 |
| Tier 2 |
$12,500 |
$30,000 |
$45,000 |
| Tier 3 |
$20,000 |
N/A |
$55,000 |
(2) Each applicant for membership also shall be assessed an additional $5,000 if the applicant will be engaging in any clearing and carrying activity.
(f)(1) There shall be a session fee of $18 assessed to each individual who completes the Regulatory Element of the Continuing Education requirements pursuant to FINRA rules.
(2) There shall be assessed to each individual electing to participate in the continuing education program under Rule 1240(c) a fee of $100 for each year that such individual is participating in the program. Individuals who elect to participate in the program within two years from the termination of a registration would also be assessed any accrued annual fee.
(g)(1) Unless a specific temporary extension of time has been granted, there shall be imposed upon each member required to file reports, as designated by this paragraph ("Designated Reports"), a fee of $100 for each day that such report is not timely filed. The fee will be assessed for a period not to exceed 10 business days. Requests for such extension of time must be submitted to FINRA at least three business days prior to the due date; and
(2) Any report filed pursuant to this Rule containing material inaccuracies or filed incompletely shall be deemed not to have been filed until a corrected copy of the report has been resubmitted.
(3) List of Designated Reports:
(A) SEA Rule 17a-5 — Monthly and quarterly FOCUS reports and annual audit reports;
(B) SEA Rule 17a-10 — Schedule I;
(C) FINRA
Rule 4140 — any audited financial and/or operational report or examination report required pursuant to
Rule 4140; and
(D) FINRA
Rule 4521 — any report, notification or information required pursuant to
Rule 4521.
(h) FINRA shall assess each member a fee of $100.00 on the first day and $25.00 for each subsequent day, up to a maximum of $1,575, that a new disclosure event or a change in the status of a previously reported disclosure event is not timely filed as required by FINRA on an initial Form U5, an amendment to a Form U5, or an amendment to a Form U4, with such fee to be assessed starting on the day following the last date on which the event was required to be reported.
(i)(1) In addition to any dues or fees otherwise payable, each applicant submitting an application for approval of a change in ownership, control, or business operations shall be assessed an application fee, based on the number of registered persons associated with the applicant (including registered persons proposed to be associated with the applicant upon approval of the application) at the time the application is filed and the type of change in ownership, control, or business operations, as outlined in the tables below:
| Number of Registered Persons Associated with Applicant |
Small |
Medium |
Large |
| Tier 1 |
1–10 |
151–300 |
501–1,000 |
| Tier 2 |
11–100 |
301–500 |
1,001–5,000 |
| Tier 3 |
101–150 |
N/A |
>5,000 |
| Application Fee per Tier |
Small |
Medium |
Large |
| Merger |
|
|
|
| Tier 1 |
$7,500 |
$25,000 |
$50,000 |
| Tier 2 |
$12,500 |
$30,000 |
$75,000 |
| Tier 3 |
$20,000 |
N/A |
$100,000 |
| Material Change |
|
|
|
| Tier 1 |
$5,000 |
$20,000 |
$35,000 |
| Tier 2 |
$10,000 |
$25,000 |
$50,000 |
| Tier 3 |
$15,000 |
N/A |
$75,000 |
| Ownership Change |
$5,000 |
$10,000 |
$15,000 |
| Transfer of Assets |
$5,000 |
$10,000 |
$15,000 |
| Acquisition |
$5,000 |
$10,000 |
$15,000 |
(2) If an applicant's application for approval of a change in ownership, control, or business operations involves more than one type of application identified in the "application fee per tier and application type" table in paragraph (i)(1) of this section, the application fee shall be the highest amount of the applicable fees (e.g., the application fee for an applicant associated with 1–10 registered persons filing an application involving a merger and material change would be $7,500).
(3) FINRA shall waive the fee assessed pursuant to paragraph (i)(1) for a continuing membership application where FINRA determines that such application is proposing less significant changes that do not require substantial staff review. For example, a continuing membership application may qualify for a fee waiver under this paragraph (i)(3) where the proposed change:
(A) does not make any day-to-day changes in the applicant's business activities, management, supervision, assets, or liabilities, and the applicant is only proposing a change in the:
(i) applicant's legal structure (e.g., changing from a corporation to an LLC);
(ii) equity ownership, partnership capital, or other ownership interest in an applicant held by a corporate legal structure that is due solely to a reorganization of ownership or control of the applicant within the corporate legal structure (e.g., reorganizing only to add a holding company to the corporate legal structure's ownership or control chain of the applicant); or
(iii) percentage of ownership interest or partnership capital of an applicant's existing owners or partners resulting in an owner or partner owning or controlling 25 percent or more of the ownership interest or partnership and that owner or partner has no disclosure or disciplinary issues in the preceding five years; or
(B) is filed in connection with a direct or indirect acquisition or transfer of 25 percent or more in the aggregate of the applicant's assets or any asset, business, or line of operation that generates revenues composing 25 percent or more in the aggregate of the applicant's earnings, measured on a rolling 36-month basis, where the applicant also is ceasing operations as a broker or dealer (including filing a
[Form BDW] with the SEC); and there are either:
(i) no pending or unpaid settled customer related claims (including, but not limited to, pending or unpaid settled arbitration or litigation actions) against the applicant or any of its associated persons; or
(ii) pending or unpaid settled customer related claims (including, but not limited to, pending or unpaid settled arbitration or litigation actions) against the applicant or its associated persons, but the applicant demonstrates in the continuing membership application its ability to satisfy in full any unpaid customer related claim (e.g., sufficient capital or escrow funds, proof of adequate insurance for customer related claims).
