SEC Requests Comment on Proposal to Facilitate Capital Formation

New

• Proposal to Facilitate Capital Formation: The SEC on April 23 instituted proceedings to determine whether to approve or disapprove FINRA’s proposed rule changes to streamline aspects of the corporate financing process. Comments are due to the SEC by May 19, and rebuttal comments are due to the SEC by June 2. Please see above feature for more details.
   
• Proposal to Improve Price Transparency in TRACE: FINRA filed a proposed rule change with the SEC on April 22 that would expand the existing non-member affiliate—principal transaction indicator in TRACE to also suppress certain member-to-member affiliate transactions from public dissemination. Comments will be due to the SEC 21 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Reminders

• TRACE Transition to Native FIX: FINRA is transitioning from our legacy FIX Protocol platform to a new Native FIX platform for TRACE trade reporting. We anticipate retiring all TRACE legacy FIX reporting late in the fourth quarter of this year. Please see our March 6 Technical Notice for more information.
   
• Collective Trust Fund Exemption from IPO Allocation Rules: FINRA filed a rule proposal with the SEC to exempt specified CTFs from restrictions on purchasing and selling initial public offerings. Comments are due to the SEC by May 1.
   
• FINRA Arbitration Rules Request for Comment: FINRA published Reg. Notice 26-06 seeking comment on key areas of concern relating to our arbitration forum, intended to ensure the forum is fair and efficient for all users. This notice opens for all the opportunity to comment on a number of specific issues raised by those who have commented previously in response to the FINRA Forward rule modernization initiative. Comments are due to FINRA by May 1.
   
• Rule 8210 Information Request Delivery: FINRA filed a proposed rule change with the SEC to amend Rule 8210(d) to specify that FINRA will deliver electronically its requests for information and testimony to member firms through FINRA Gateway, rather than by mail. The proposed rule change was filed for immediate effectiveness, with an implementation date of May 26. See ICYMI above for more details.
   
• New Intraday Margin Standards: FINRA adopted new intraday margin standards to replace in their entirety the outdated day trading margin requirements, including the day trade count requirements for designating a customer as a “pattern day trader” and the $25,000 pattern day trader minimum equity requirement. The effective date of the amendments is June 4. Members that need more time to implement the rule change will be permitted to phase in their implementation over a period of 18 months, until 20, 2027. See ICYMI above for more details.
   
• TRACE Reporting for BD/IAs: FINRA has amended Rule 6730 to allow firms that operate as both broker-dealers and investment advisers (BD/IAs) to report allocations of aggregate orders to multiple managed customer accounts in a single TRACE report, rather than submitting separate reports for each account allocation. The optional streamlined reporting alternative takes effect June 8.
   
• Board of Governors Election: FINRA will hold a Board election on July 13 for a small firm seat and a large firm seat.
  
   
• New Member Application: FINRA has introduced technological enhancements to the New Member Application (Form NMA). The enhanced Form NMA is now available through FINRA Gateway. The legacy version of the form will retire on July 15.

Disciplinary Actions

FINRA Annual Conference | May 12-14 | In-Person Event | Washington, DC

Webinar: AI Adoption in Practice: Implementation | May 27 | Virtual Event

FINRA Crypto Applied Learning Program | June 2-4 | In-Person Event | Washington, DC

FINRA Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional (CRCP)^® Program Week I | July 12-17 | In-Person Event | Washington, DC

Webinar: AI Adoption in Practice: Supervision | July 29 | Virtual Event

Financial Crimes and Cybersecurity Conference | Aug. 10-11 | Hybrid Event | New York, NY 

Advertising Regulation Conference | Oct. 15-16 | Hybrid Event | Washington, DC

FINRA Small Firm Conference | Oct. 27-28 | In-Person Event | Chicago, IL

FINRA Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional (CRCP)^® Program Week II | Nov. 15-20 | In-Person Event | Washington, DC

Crypto and Blockchain Education Program Foundational E-Learning Courses | Self-Paced

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