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4512. Customer Account Information

(a) Each member shall maintain the following information:

(1) for each account: 

(A) customer's name and residence;
(B) whether customer is of legal age;
(C) name(s) of the associated person(s), if any, responsible for the account, and if multiple individuals are assigned responsibility for the account, a record indicating the scope of their responsibilities with respect to the account, provided, however, that this requirement shall not apply to an institutional account;
(D) signature of the partner, officer or manager denoting that the account has been accepted in accordance with the member's policies and procedures for acceptance of accounts;
(E) if the customer is a corporation, partnership or other legal entity, the names of any persons authorized to transact business on behalf of the entity; and
(F) subject to Supplementary Material .06, name of and contact information for a trusted contact person age 18 or older who may be contacted about the customer's account; provided, however, that this requirement shall not apply to an institutional account.

(2) for each account other than an institutional account, and accounts in which investments are limited to transactions in open-end investment company shares that are not recommended by the member or its associated persons, each member shall also make reasonable efforts to obtain, prior to the settlement of the initial transaction in the account, the following information to the extent it is applicable to the account:

(A) customer's tax identification or Social Security number;
(B) occupation of customer and name and address of employer; and
(C) whether customer is an associated person of another member; and
(3) for discretionary accounts maintained by a member, in addition to compliance with subparagraph (1) and, to the extent applicable, subparagraph (2) above, and Rule 3260, the member shall maintain a record of the dated, signature of each named, associated person of the member authorized to exercise discretion in the account. This recordkeeping requirement shall not apply to investment discretion granted by a customer as to the price at which or the time to execute an order given by a customer for the purchase or sale of a definite dollar amount or quantity of a specified security. Nothing in this Rule shall be construed as allowing members to maintain discretionary accounts or exercise discretion in such accounts except to the extent permitted under the federal securities laws.
(b) A member need not meet the requirements of this Rule with respect to any account that was opened pursuant to a prior FINRA rule until such time as the member updates the information for the account either in the course of the member's routine and customary business or as otherwise required by applicable laws or rules.
(c) For purposes of this Rule, the term "institutional account" shall mean the account of:
(1) a bank, savings and loan association, insurance company or registered investment company;
(2) an investment adviser registered either with the SEC under Section 203 of the Investment Advisers Act or with a state securities commission (or any agency or office performing like functions); or
(3) any other person (whether a natural person, corporation, partnership, trust or otherwise) with total assets of at least $50 million.

• • • Supplementary Material: --------------

.01 Customer Account Information Retention Periods. For purposes of this Rule, members shall preserve a record of any customer account information that subsequently is updated for at least six years after the date that such information is updated. Members shall preserve a record of the last update to any customer account information, or the original account information if there are no updates to the account information, for at least six years after the date the account is closed.

.02 Additional Customer Account Records Under the Exchange Act. Members should be aware that they may be required to make and preserve additional customer account records as required under Section 17(a) of the Exchange Act and the applicable associated Exchange Act rules.

.03 Compliance With Rule 2070. With respect to paragraph (a)(2)(B) of this Rule, members should be aware that they have an obligation to comply with the requirements of Rule 2070(a) if they have actual notice that a customer having a financial interest in, or controlling trading in, an account is an employee of FINRA.

.04 "Maintain" and "Preserve." For purposes of Rule 4512 only, as a general matter, the term "maintain" is used to reflect customer account information that is current or in use. The term "preserve" is used to reflect customer account information that is no longer current or in use.

.05 Supervision of Accounts. Nothing in paragraph (a)(1)(C) of this Rule obviates a member's obligation to supervise an account that it services, including determining the associated persons responsible for the account and ensuring that such persons are appropriately qualified and registered, and to comply with the requirements of Rule 2090 (effective July 9, 2012). With respect to a member's obligation to supervise an account, it is incumbent upon the member to design appropriate mechanisms to determine the associated persons responsible for the account, ensure that such persons are appropriately qualified and registered, and have the ability to provide such information to FINRA or SEC staff upon request.

.06 Trusted Contact Person

(a) With respect to paragraph (a)(1)(F) of this Rule, at the time of account opening a member shall disclose in writing, which may be electronic, to the customer that the member or an associated person of the member is authorized to contact the trusted contact person and disclose information about the customer's account to address possible financial exploitation, to confirm the specifics of the customer's current contact information, health status, or the identity of any legal guardian, executor, trustee or holder of a power of attorney, or as otherwise permitted by Rule 2165. With respect to any account that was opened pursuant to a prior FINRA rule, a member shall provide this disclosure in writing, which may be electronic, when updating the information for the account pursuant to paragraph (b) of this Rule either in the course of the member's routine and customary business or as otherwise required by applicable laws or rules.
(b) The absence of the name of or contact information for a trusted contact person shall not prevent a member from opening or maintaining an account for a customer, provided that the member makes reasonable efforts to obtain the name of and contact information for a trusted contact person.
(c) With respect to any account subject to the requirements of SEA Rule 17a- 3(a)(17) to periodically update customer records, a member shall make reasonable efforts to obtain or, if previously obtained, to update where appropriate the name of and contact information for a trusted contact person consistent with the requirements of SEA Rule 17a-3(a)(17).
Amended by SR-FINRA-2019-009 eff. May 8, 2019.
Amended by SR-FINRA-2018-040 eff. May 6, 2019.
Amended by SR-FINRA-2016-039 eff. Feb. 5, 2018.
Amended by SR-FINRA-2011-070 eff. Dec. 5, 2011.
Adopted by SR-FINRA-2010-052 eff. Dec. 5, 2011.

Selected Notices: 11-19, 17-11, 19-13.

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