FINRA Gateway Release Notes

• New GP and CR registration categories to accommodate changes to the U4 and U5 by the CBOE and CBOE2 Regulators:
  • GP - General Securities Principal
  • CR - Compliance Officer

• Users can now view or hide the entered SSN during Pre-registration search.
• Non-registered, exam-only individuals (those who have taken exams via TESS/U10) can now be found in Pre-registration search.
• New Individual Profile page with call-to-action links for non-registered, exam-only individuals. 

A new and improved eFOCUS filing application is now available within FINRA Gateway: 

• The legacy eFOCUS filing application is still available currently.
• The new application is only available to quarterly filers at this time but will be expanded to monthly filers later in July.
• Users will be redirected to FINRA Gateway, when attempting to access legacy eFOCUS from an old, bookmarked URL.

Feature Highlights:

• Enhanced Form Layout
• Autosaving abilities
• Form summary review
• “Exiting” Enhancements:
  • Form error checking
  • The ability to view and print in PDF formatting
  • Import and Export Filing actions
  • Add a filing memo
  • Not submit filing
  • View filing status
  • View filing history
  • Create an amendment
  • Compare filings
  • Complete a filing analysis

Fixes and Enhancements:

• Form U4
  • Added an inactive session timeout for Reps accessing U4 in FinPro.
    • The inactivity time is 30 minutes after which the user will be given the option to either continue work on the U4 or logout
  • Bug Fix to prevent alerts from showing up at the bottom of the page instead at the top for Reps accessing U4 in FinPro
• Form U5
  • Added a smart warning on the U5 to prevent users from adding duplicate DRPs

• Label at the top of Requests updated to “Requests & Filings”
• DataFix to close outstanding Information Request work items that should have been closed.
• Requests Widget added to FINRA Gateway Dashboard.

• Performance upgrades made to lessen the issue of browsers not responding and slowness within the U4 & U5 forms.

Enhancements: 

• Compare with Previous Filing feature in the Form View where you would be able to view the changes you have made to the filing before you submit. All edits are highlighted, showing additions, modifications, and deletions on the form
• Summary section will show an informational banner on a U5 Full form when the individual is listed in the FINRA Contact System
• Summary section will show an informational banner on a U5 Partial form when the individual's Principal Registration is getting terminated and the individual is listed in the FINRA Contact System and has one of the following roles: 
  • Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or Partner
  • Executive Representative (ER)
  • Chief Compliance Officer
  • Emergency Contact (BCP) - Primary
  • Chief Financial Officer
• Added a warning message on the Internal Review DRP for users to check when an Internal Review event pre-dates the Termination Date on U5 Full for the representative

• Bug Fix to not display overdue red indicator on completed Work Items
• Data Fix to close erroneous Information Request, Work Items.

• New, redesigned left-hand navigation bar
  • Solves for overlapping issues with browser resizing and resolution,
  • Gives users control of expanding and collapsing the navigation bar, and
  • Offers better structured sub-menus for 508 compliance.

• F4 Actions now available to be taken
• New error message to let users know the following characters are not allowed in the Search Box: ~\`[email protected]#$%^&*_={}[]|;'"?<>
• Requests is now labelled “Work Management Requests & Filings”
• Closed work items will now display the submitted date
• Users can now quickly identify overdue items by using the “Overdue” filter option

• Business Activities information now available in the BD firm profile with the ability to update with additional business activities collected outside the Form BD.

Fixes and Enhancements: 

Form U4

• Bug Fix in the Jurisdictions section where BD/IA only affiliated firms for an individual had the AG/RA Jurisdictions disabled (read-only)
• Bug Fix on the Judgement Lien DRP to allow the editing of DRP 052009A to a 052009B version when a sensitive docket case number is available

Form U5

• Summary section now shows an informational banner on a U5 Full for FinPro users along with their email addresses. The reps will get an email notification on those email addresses upon termination.
  • Note: Firms are still required to provide a copy of the U5 as filed to the individuals
• Implemented a smart warning on the Reason for Termination to alert users to review information prior to submission
• Bug Fix with the Completeness Check for Investigation DRP to not be required if a Regulation Action DRP has been added.
• Bug Fix for typos throughout the form U5 (Full, Partial and Amendment).

• FINRA membership indicator temporarily removed on Firm Profile.
• Bug Fix to correct BD SEC registration statuses on Firm profile.
• AMI and Docker images updated.

• FINRA Gateway Announcements are now FINRA Gateway Notifications.
• New “Alert” Notification type. Alerts will be used for to highlight items that require an action.
• New icons to differentiate between “Alert” and “Announcements” notification types.
• Notification bell updated to show the total number of unread notifications.

• Form U5 call-to-action links will open New U5 experience in FINRA Gateway.
• Pending/Draft U5 filings indicator added to Individual Profile.
• Error message with reference number added when Form U4 or U5 filing fails to initiate from the profile.

A new and improved data entry experience for U5 filings is now available within FINRA Gateway: 

• Classic CRD U5 experience continues to be available at this time.
• Filers can choose to use either experience but will need to complete each filing on a single path (i.e. – U5 filings created in Classic CRD must be resumed and submitted in Classic CRD, and U5 filings created via FINRA Gateway must be resumed and submitted via FINRA Gateway).
• Once submitted, all U5 filings (regardless of the path chosen) will be available in the individual’s filing history in Classic CRD.
• Feature Highlights
  • Start a U5 filing in FINRA Gateway by searching for the individual and from the individual’s profile select the appropriate U5 filing type.
  • Access draft U5 filings by either searching/filtering the Requests section of FINRA Gateway.
  • User tutorials embedded in the FINRA Gateway help menu.

• Disabled the URL for submitted U4 and U5 Filings created in DECAF.
• Full Text Search enhanced to allow the search of first name, last name, or both for Disclosure Letters.

• Launched the new FINRA Gateway Dashboard, offering a customizable homepage with varying widgets such as Profile Search, Quick Links and E-Bill for those properly entitled.

• Website address now available in BD firm profile, along with the ability to edit the web address there.
• Bug fix for the "Available in BC/IAPD" indicator to display accurate information for reportable Customer Complaint disclosures.
• Bug fix to remove the hyperlink(s) for Branch CRD numbers in Individual Profile - Office Locations section for Branch offices which are not registered with the logged in firm.

• Fixes and Enhancements: 
  • New error message so users can understand the error they are encountering and if not, they will be able to take a screenshot of the error and send it over to FINRA Support for more expediated assistance.
  • Bug Fix so that all disposition details in bankruptcy DRP are not required where it shouldn’t have been.

• Fixes and Enhancements: 
  • U4 Card Layout Enhanced to help better identify the U4 you are looking for.
  • The “Delete” button will now be hidden for Submitted U4 Filings.
  • Bug Fix so that the U4 “Delete” button will only be able to be clicked once.
  • Individual Disclosure Letters have been decommissioned from CRD Activities.

• New Report home page layout with the ability to search for custom reports and templates, see recently viewed reports and templates and to re-download recent exports.
• Advanced Export feature now allows people to download more than just one sub table.
• New Export functionality no longer requires users to wait while the file is generated. Request an export and comeback anytime within 24 hours to download the generated file.

• Fixes and Enhancements: 
  • Simplified the workflow for Allow Rep Edits and made the Rep Completion Status more user friendly.
  • Auto-Select Registration button fixed to only be available for the rep if they have access to the Registration section in FinPro.
  • Data Entry Navigation for Signatures is now after the Summary section.
  • Users will be redirected to the home page of FINRA Gateway after a U4 submission instead of the individual's profile.
  • New user redirect will fix the issue of seeing an error message after submitting a U4 Initial successfully.
  • Applicable actions are now available for individuals with “Purged” registrations on their Profile.
  • Completeness Checks fixed to only show up for individuals that should see it.

• Fixes and Enhancements: 
  • U4 & U5 call-to-action options added to Individual Profile for individuals actively associated but in “Purged” registration status.
  • "Add as an Owner (u4 Pg 2)" renamed to "Add as a BD Owner (U4 Pg 2)" to provide additional clarity.

• Bug Fix to allow the UI to refresh when modal closes or work item is deleted

• Fixes and Enhancements: 
  • Upon submission of a U4 Amendment for individuals with affiliate employments and more than 20 inactive employments the filing looks like it is successfully submitted however it fails in processing. This change will all it to process successfully upon a new submission. 
  • Users with ChFC designations will no longer have their designation removed upon submission. Any affected individuals because of this bug has had their designations accurately updated.

• Enhancements
  • Industry Arrangements information added to the BD firm Profile.
  • Link to Filing History in classic CRD added to Individual profile.
  • Link added to the "FINRA Entitlement Program Agreement and Terms of Use" in Pre-registration search attestation language.
• Usability improvements
  • Branch search tool tip will be fully visible in profile search widget in header.
  • "More locations" link in individual profile summary will re-direct to Office Locations in Registrations section.
  • Individual name added to the BD Page 2 Deficiencies information.
  • Performance improvements to load U4 draft count quickly in Individual Profile.
• Bug Fixes
  • U4/ U5 call-to-actions fixed to show the appropriate actions in some instances when the individual is currently employed but the system failed to recognize the association.
  • 'Advisor' is renamed to 'Adviser' through the system to fix the typo.
  • "Last updated" date fixed to display correct date for BD, and Individual Disclosures.

• Bug fix so that total work item count and filters are consistent when switching between worklists.
• New warning message for "No Work Items"

• Full Text Search abilities so that users can quickly search for work items.
• Completed Worklist added to allow users to see all their completed work items.

• Form U4 Retirement in Classic CRD: 
  • Ability to start a U4 (Initial, Amendment, Dual, Relicense All, Relicense BD, Relicense IA) in Classic CRD will go away. FINRA Gateway will be the only application that will support the creation of U4
  • Failed Web EFT submissions will now create a draft in FINRA Gateway instead of Classic CRD and can be found in Work Management Requests.
  • Pending Filings in Classic CRD is going to get invalidated and will be available for Read-Only
  • Submitted Filings/Historical Filings will still be available in Classic CRD
• Anonymous site (Rep Edit) Retirement: 
  • Filings made using the new filing experience require the professional to use FinPro for collaborating with Allow Rep Edits functionality.

• Call-to-Action links will only display those actions in which the user is entitled to.
• Re-named Call-to-Action links to use correct nomenclature for Form filing actions (Ex: "Form BD" instead of "BD Form")
• Bug Fix: Individual disclosure information now denotes Customer Complaint disclosures archived for specific reasons are still available in BC/IAPD.

• Disclosures information added to the BD firm Profile.
• Re-designed firm profile landing page to show main BD and IA summary information together.
• Pending U4 indicator added to the individual profile.

• New information made available in the BD firm profile:
  • Owners & Executive Officers information
  • Summary counts for key BD related items

• Fixes and Enhancements: 
  • Alert added regarding the announcement to temporarily stop automatically opening exam windows for applicants requesting only New York RA registration
  • Fixed an issue where Redlining changes were not showing colors while printing/saving as pdf
  • Fixed an issue with Rep in FinPro getting a continuous loading icon while trying to either Save/Review Form (Form View) on the filing

• Fixes and Enhancements: 
  • Archived DRPs are available for Customer Complaint DRP 
  • Updated the design of the Redlining Modal filters to be more dynamic and easier to use
  • Enhanced the structuring of Affiliated Firm changes in the Redlining Modal
  • Fixed an issue with cache in the navigation panel of the form view where it highlighted the previously selected section
  • Fixed a bug with the process where the filing type will automatically switch from "Relicense" to "Initial" after 30 days without invalidating the filing

• Enhancements:
  • Share feature allows users to share custom report settings with other FINRA Gateway Report users
  • Save As feature allows users to save iterations of custom reports without overwriting the original
• New Reporting Templates:
  • The CE Download, CE Required, CE Inactive, CE Satisfied, CE Two Year Termed, CE Approaching Requirement and Supervising OSJ Branch templates have all been updated to remove nested information. These reports now align more closely with the Classic CRD versions that firms are used to.
  • Four, NY IAR templates are available to help NY firms onboard IAs to CRD in time for the July 2021 deadline. These new templates are designed to assist in identifying individuals who may be subject, who have completed the process, and others who have opened a testing window (which may or may not be required).

• Navigation menu added to Firm and Branch Profile pages. Allows users to click and navigate to different sections more easily.
• Bug fix to adjust the CHRI Terms & Conditions pop-up to show action buttons on smaller resolution screens.

• Fixes and Enhancements: 
  • Enhanced performance for a faster response time when opening a draft, doing data entry, viewing the form and when using the ‘Compare with Previous Filing’ feature
  • Fixed a cache issue where the draft would get stuck and users would have to refresh for the form to load
  • Fixed a margins issue when printing the full U4 form around the Registration section
  • Compare with Previous Filing feature now available in the Review Form View prior to submitting the filing

• Registration, Deficiency and Affiliate information now available in Firm BD Profile.
• U4 concurrence CTA link changed to only display for Dually registered individuals.

• New and Improved Features:
  • Compare with Previous Filing in the Form View where you would be able to view the changes you have made to the filing before you submit. All edits are highlighted, showing additions, modifications and deletions on the form
  • Ability to Print/View in the Form View that will give you the ability to view/print all sections or just the section you want
  • Update to the Allow Rep Edit flow where Reps and Firm can collaborate in a shared, streamlined data entry flow back and forth
• Fixes and Enhancements:
  • Added the ability to edit older version of DRPs
  • Enhancement to the process where the filing type will automatically switch from "Relicense" to "Initial" after 30 days without invalidating the filing
  • Updated design and experience for the Office Location branch lookup
  • Added supervising CRD# as a search criterion for branch lookup in office locations
  • Fixed the issue with navigating from one field to the next by hitting tab, caused by a bug in date picker component
  • Fixed an issue with pre-populating the unaffiliated flags for a U4 Amendment
  • Added tooltips for View, Edit and Delete icons

• New abilities added to firm setting history
  • Filter the data for 3, 6 and 9 months and specific date ranges
  • Export filtered data

• Improved date picker to make it easier to view previous years when filtering by dates.

• "Save" workflow improvements to Individual and Branch Roster functionality.
• Pre-registration acknowledgment moved from search results page to just before the profile loads.

• Bug Fix for “No Work Items” warning page.

• Disclosures Information added to Individual Profiles.

• The following were added to Reports:
  • Dynamic filtering for value lookups
  • Fingerprint card status information
  • Firm registration status history
• Data parity for all CRD firm-facing queues slated for Dynamic Reporting

• 4530 Customer Complaints and Disclosures Data now available in Reports

• FINRA regulatory contacts added to Firm Profile
• Fingerprint and SSN information added to Individual profile. Viewable to those with the appropriate entitlements.

• Only Work Items users are entitled to will appear from now on. This is driven by a user’s current entitlements.

• Information Requests work items now assigned as “General” type to be more informative.

• New Recently Viewed feature provides access to the 10 most recently viewed places within FINRA Gateway. All recently viewed places are viewable and searchable by date or text. Recently viewed activity will only be available from the date of our production release moving forward.

• All Form U4 filings now available in FINRA Gateway (i.e., Initial and Amendment Form U4 filings, now Page 2 Initial and Amendment, Dual, Relicense All, Relicense BD, Relicense IA and Concurrence)
• Feature Highlights:
  • When registering a new individual, the Actions Card in the individual’s profile will display a link to "Add as a Rep" and the system will infer the correct Form U4 filing based on a combination of the individual's current status and the firm's responses within the filing (i.e., users no longer have to select specific filing types). The Actions Card will also display other appropriate filing types in the Action Card when applicable.
  • Defaulted the date picker to the current date for users to select in the Signatures section
  • Added more grouping to the Completeness Check in the Registrations Requests with Firms
• Additional Notes:
  • Classic CRD U4 experience continues to be available, at this time, for all U4 filing types

• Enhanced capabilities to customize data & save preferences in Individual and Branch Rosters

• New warning page to display when there are no work items

• My Settings and My Account pages consolidated to one page with two tabs for My Information and My Settings.

• New warning page to display when there are no filtered results

• FINRA Staff Contacts now available in FINRA Gateway. Users now have access to key points of contact at FINRA

• Error messages updated to remove extraneous information

• Data entry experience for Initial & Amendment U4 filings is now available within FINRA Gateway
• Feature Highlights:
  • Start a U4 filing in FINRA Gateway by searching for the individual (pre-registration search if individual is new to your firm) and from the individual’s profile select the appropriate U4 filing type
  • Access draft U4 filings by filtering the Requests section of FINRA Gateway
  • Collaborate with individuals using the optional “Allow Rep Edits” feature
• Additional Notes:
  • Classic CRD U4 experience continues to be available, at this time, for all U4 filing types
  • U4 filings created in Classic CRD must be resumed and submitted in Classic CRD, while U4 filings created via FINRA Gateway must be resumed and submitted via FINRA Gateway
  • All submitted U4 filings (regardless of the path chosen) will be available in the individual’s filing history in Classic CRD

• Card layout corrected for Information Requests work items
• Work Items enhanced to include “U4 Rep Completion Status” and “U4 Delete” action
• Default ‘Sort By’ set for work items when there is no user selection

• Bug Fix to stop incorrectly displaying the “Technical Issue” error message when a user clicks the Requests icon from the left navigation panel.

• eFocus Quick Link added under the Requests’ History tab.

• Requests Card removed from the dashboard

• Requests has been redesigned and now includes
  • Simplified Filtering- improves efficiency​ in finding request items
  • Improved Data Layout- quickly identify compliance and regulatory request items
  • Create Filings – the ability to create optional filings
  • History - a cabinet with quick links to view and/or perform additional actions on work items

• Read/Unread announcements distinguishable by visual indicators

• Drop down category selections now available when creating a support ticket, helping route tickets to the appropriate FINRA teams more efficiently. A tool tip is available to provide category definitions.

• Quick Links now available on top of the homepage for easy access

• New sections/tabs to the Branch Profile:
  • Registrations and Deficiencies
  • Branch Office Space Sharing and Other Business Affiliates
  • Address and Supervisor/ Person-In-Charge to Branch History
  • Branch Office Agreement, Entities with Financial Interest, Location of Records and Branch Websites to Branch Information

• Bug fix so users will not see an "Access Denied" message when viewing a Full Branch Profile popover

• Fix to retroactively close U5 Required work items that are appearing as open as a result of the Bug that was fixed on August 20.

• Fix to retroactively close Branch Deficiency work items that are appearing as open as a result of the Bug that was fixed on August 27.

• Access to Firm settings feature added under the Admin Icon

• Bug fix to the Branch Deficiency filter for work items that are appearing as open even though the necessary action has been completed by the firm. 

• Updated label in Profiles to "View/Print" to highlight direct navigation to the printer-friendly individual profile in Classic CRD.

• Bug Fix to close U5 Required and Branch Deficiency work items that incorrectly appear open even when completed

• Enhanced functionality to allow the U4, U5 and Account Management applications to be maximized or opened in a new browser window.

• Branch Billing Code now in Individual Profile with the Office Location for both registered and non-registered branches
• Added Proctor Center name and location of scheduled exams within the Pending Exams section on Individual Profile
• Branch Search Results enhanced by separating the active and inactive branches and by including Location (City, State, Postal Code)

• Access to User Administration feature added under the Admin Icon for Super Account Administrators (SAAs) and Account Administrators (AAs).
• New Quick Links added: Information Requests, 4530, FINRA Trace New Issue, Order Audit Trail System (OATS).

• Identifying information for Individual Profile added in the Personal Information section
• Firm Name and CRD# added to the Individual Summary and bug fixed for the BD/IA Main Office information 
• Popover size increased from 1000px to 1064px

• Enhancement to Individual Profile cards to give users the ability to click anywhere on the card & not just the arrow to expand a section
• Added Scores for Failed Exams in Individual Profile
• Added suffix to the name for the Individual Search results
• Bug fix for Firm Billing Code to make the code available in the Individual Profile summary and the Office Locations within the Registration section

• Increased upload file size for self-service tickets

• Bug fix for CE status of an individual profile.

• Bug fix to correct announcements from showing incorrect unicode characters.

• Bug fix in Individual Profile to allow the profile to load even when information is missing.
• Bug fix for Branch Roster to support multiple and active Person(s) in Charge.

• Improved Dynamic Reporting experience for selecting & removing columns
• Complete Branch data grids are now available.

• Individual Search suggestions feature will provide suggestions based on what is being searched for.
• New Branch Search criteria to allow searches by City, State and Postal Code.

• New prompt invites users logging in to MyCRD to preview and move to FINRA Gateway.

• My Profile is now My Account. Access to update personal profile information is still available.

• IA FIRM Summary and a Firm’s full profile now available in Firm Profile.
• Filing and Approval Date added date for Individual Registrations.
• Enhanced Positions icon now has hover over functionality.
• Customized error messaging added on individual fields and counts for ease of awareness, in case of technical issues.

• Create & submit a support ticket from anywhere within FINRA Gateway.

• Branch Roster bug fix to remove main office/invalid branches.

• Registrations layout enhanced to separate SRO & State Registrations, also adding pagination and count.
• Completion date added to Continued Education section.
• Appointment details for Pending Exams added.

• New prompt invites users logging in to Firm Gateway to preview and move to FINRA Gateway.
• New prompt for users utilizing unsupported browsers to upgrade upon login.

• Disclosure, Deficiencies, and Registration Status History fields added to Reports registration templates.

• E-Bill badge is on the Dashboard. Available to entitled users; displays balance as of the previous night. To be enhanced in the future to display current balance as posted throughout the day.

• Investment Advisor (IA) Affiliation in Individual Profile

• New Continuing Education History section for Individual Profile
• 'Termed' status for Individuals in Continuing Education section
• FINRA Risk Monitoring Analyst and its contact information in the Firm Profile summary

• New Announcements feature in banner of landing page and in new dropdown list, which mirrors announcements in classic Firm Gateway
• Enhanced icon for User Account Settings  

• New reporting templates that resemble myCRD activity queues
• Refine your data using relative date filters for more reusable custom data views.
• Export sub-tables within data views to a CSV file.
• Sort data views on grouped fields.

• Search for Individuals by Full Name and Other Names (e.g., first, middle, last or suffix, in any order.)
• Filter and sort the Individual Roster by Name, CRD Number, Billing Code and Outside Business.
• Filter and sort the Branch Roster by CRD Number, City, State, Billing Code, Branch Type, Phone Number and Deficiency Status
• Browse the Individual and Branch Rosters using pagination.
• Expand and collapse all cards on Firm and Individual Profile screens
• Enhancement to the Registration section - clean up Deficiencies by grouping them, added Private Residence indicator for Office Location and added termination explanation
• New Statutory Disqualification Status field on the Individual Summary