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MEDIA CENTER

Facilitating Compliance
To best ensure investor protection as a self-regulatory organization, it is critical that FINRA engage in a two-way dialogue with its member firms. It is our duty to provide the information members need to understand and meet their regulatory obligations, and in turn we regularly solicit and incorporate member feedback in order to refine our efforts.
Facilitating Compliance

This begins with ensuring that all firms and individuals are appropriately registered with FINRA and that individuals have passed relevant qualification exams. From there, we require individuals to take continuing education courses as well as offer ongoing optional programs in subject areas such as compliance, regulatory, ethical and sales practice standards, among others.

FINRA regularly engages with member firms to provide resources, tools and effective practices that help facilitate compliance with our rules. Each year, we provide an annual Exam Findings and Observations Report, Annual Exam and Risk Monitoring Priorities Letter, and host other timely, topical events such as member roundtables and forums.

We also believe that it is appropriate, after a reasonable period, to look back at our significant rulemakings to determine whether a rule or rule set is meeting its intended investor-protection objectives. These retrospective reviews look at the substance and application of a rule or rule set, including any unintended consequences, as well as our processes to administer the rules.

Featured

News Release

FINRA Fines Interactive Brokers $15 Million for Widespread AML Failures

Podcast

Encore | Beyond Hollywood: Money Laundering in the Securities Industry

Podcast

Virtual Conference Panels: Fireside Chat on Current Issues

Podcast
Overlapping Risks, Part 2: Anti-Money Laundering and Elder Exploitation
A broker-deal firm’s anti-money laundering efforts may overlap with any number of other regulatory concerns. On this episode, the second in a two-part series, we’re looking at how AML may overlap with a firm’s efforts to protect senior investors from exploitation and fraud.
Podcast
Overlapping Risks, Part 1: Anti-Money Laundering and Cybersecurity
Firm regulatory risks and priorities don't exist in a vacuum. And that is perhaps nowhere clearer than when it comes to a firm's anti-money laundering responsibilities. A firm's AML risks can overlap with any number of other priorities. On this episode, the first of a two-part series, we look at the overlapping risks of AML and cybersecurity.
News Release
FINRA Fines Interactive Brokers $15 Million for Widespread AML Failures
WASHINGTON—FINRA announced today that it has fined Interactive Brokers LLC $15 million for widespread failures in the firm’s anti-money laundering (AML) program, which persisted for more than five years. As part of the settlement, FINRA also required Interactive Brokers to certify that it will implement the recommendations of a third-party consultant to remedy the firm’s AML program failures.
Podcast
Encore | Beyond Hollywood: Money Laundering in the Securities Industry
When three hapless employees inadvertently embezzle a bunch of cash in the movie “Office Space,” they decide the best way to cover it up is to launder it. But the thing is, they don’t even really know what money laundering is and they learned that even the dictionary couldn’t fill them in.
Podcast
Virtual Conference Panels: Fireside Chat on Current Issues
With the cancellation of the 2020 FINRA Annual Conference and other in-person events throughout the year, we’ve gone virtual with a variety of on-demand conference panels on regulatory hot topics.
Webinar
FINRA Online Testing Technical Discussion: ProProctor Installation
Register to attend an upcoming webinar to learn about the installation of ProProctor, a Prometric application that FINRA is using to deliver qualification exams online, on company-issued equipment. During these hour-long sessions, FINRA and Prometric technologists will discuss resources available to firm Information Technology staff, and a substantial amount of time will be reserved to answer questions.
Podcast
Regulation Best Interest: Implementing a New Standard of Conduct
As of June 30, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation Best Interest—or Reg BI—is officially in effect. What does a post implementation-date world look like? And how is FINRA working to ensure a consistent approach to examining around and enforcing the new regulation? Tune in to learn more.
News Release
FINRA Fines SG Americas Securities $1.55 Million for Submitting Inaccurate Blue Sheet Data
SG Americas Securities to Pay $3.1 Million in Total Fines to FINRA and SEC WASHINGTON—FINRA announced today that it has fined SG Americas Securities, LLC (SGAS) $1.55 million for submitting inaccurate trade data (known as “blue sheets”) to FINRA for more than seven years. Additionally, the firm must also certify within 90 days of this settlement that it conducted a comprehensive review and revised its systems and procedures related to the deficiency.
News Release
FINRA Statement on SEC’s OCIE Risk Alerts for Reg BI and Form CRS
On April 7, 2020, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) released Risk Alerts for Reg BI and Form CRS.  These Risk Alerts set forth OCIE’s expectations for firms’ compliance with Reg BI and Form CRS and provide broker-dealers with information about the scope and content of OCIE’s initial examinations following the compliance date of June 30, 2020.  FINRA will take the same approach as se
Podcast
Business in the Time of COVID-19: BCPs, Regulatory Relief & More
The new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 has rapidly changed the way U.S. broker-dealers must conduct business as states implement various shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders, forcing workers remote. On this episode, we talk to FINRA’s Chief Legal Officer and Head of Member Supervision to learn how FINRA is adapting its operations and providing important regulatory relief.

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