Guidance
We offer guidance to firms in the form of podcasts, webinars, FAQs, reports, and more. Use the toggle below to find guidance by topic, type or date.
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Conference Call
Small firms represent a critical portion of FINRA’s membership and often face regulatory challenges that are unique from their large firm counterparts.
August 12, 2019
Guidance
What does it take to receive credit for extraordinary cooperation when it comes to FINRA Enforcement actions? What does extraordinary even mean in that context? On this episode, we dig into updated guidance on this topic with FINRA’s head of Enforcement.
August 06, 2019
Guidance
This reference guide covers a range of private placement topics, from the basic question of "What is a private offering?" to more technical discussions on broker-dealer compliance with FINRA's private placement rules.
July 16, 2019
Get Involved
The FINRA Board of Governors meets this week in Washington, DC. Read President and CEO Robert Cook’s email to firms previewing the agenda.
July 16, 2019
Guidance
Filing Guidance - Public Offering Review
July 16, 2019
A Few Minutes With FINRA
FINRA Executive Vice President and Head of Enforcement Susan Schroeder sits down with Senior Vice President of Member Relations and Education Chip Jones to discuss new guidance on credit for extraordinary cooperation in investigations, as described in Regulatory Notice 19-23. (7 min. 11 sec.)
July 11, 2019
Guidance
Summary
FINRA is issuing this Notice to restate and supplement prior guidance regarding the circumstances under which a firm or individual may influence the outcome of an investigation by demonstrating extraordinary cooperation. This Notice incorporates FINRA’s prior guidance and provides clarification and additional information about how FINRA assesses whether a potential respondent’s cooperation is “extraordinary” and distinct from the level of cooperation expected of all member firms and their associated persons.
July 11, 2019
Interpretive Letter
Equity Securities as Compensation for Capital Acquisition Brokers
May 30, 2019
Podcast
The world of money laundering is a fast-paced and ever evolving, which can make it difficult for a financial firm to develop and maintain a strong anti-money laundering program. On this episode, two FINRA anti-money laundering experts discuss current priorities and best practices when it comes to AML regulation.
May 14, 2019
Communications to Firms
Read President and CEO Robert Cook’s post-meeting email to firms highlighting the May 2019 FINRA Board of Governors meeting.
May 14, 2019
Get Involved
Next week, the FINRA Board of Governors will meet in New York for its second meeting of the year. During the meeting, the Board’s Audit Committee will review a draft of FINRA’s Annual Financial Report, which the full Board will review and consider for approval prior to its publication this summer.
May 03, 2019
FAQ
The following frequently asked questions (FAQs) provide guidance on FINRA Rule 2111 (Suitability). This document consolidates the questions and answers in Regulatory Notices 12-55, 12-25 and 11-25, organized by topic.
April 03, 2019
Get Involved
FINRA CEO Robert Cook, Board members and FINRA staff provide updates from the February/March 2019 FINRA Board of Governors meeting.
March 13, 2019
FAQ
FINRA is providing these Frequently Asked Questions about its 529 Plan Share Class Initiative (the “Initiative”) in response to a number of inquiries it has received from firms and trade associations. In order to allow firms sufficient time to consider the additional information provided here and to provide firms more time to review their supervisory systems and procedures with respect to 529 plan sales, FINRA is extending the due dates set forth in Regulatory Notice 19-04.
March 05, 2019
A Few Minutes With FINRA
In a follow up to a recent episode of A Few Minutes With FINRA, FINRA Executive Vice President of Enforcement Susan Schroeder answers questions FINRA has received from firms in response to its 529 Plan Share Class Initiative. (11 min. 58 sec.)
February 27, 2019
Get Involved
The FINRA Board of Governors meets this week in Boca Raton, FL. Read President and CEO Robert Cook’s email to firms previewing the agenda.
February 26, 2019
Guidance
Effective Feb. 3, 2020, FIX will be the only protocol supported for reporting trades to FINRA's TRACE and ORF platforms.
February 13, 2019
Interpretive Letter
A member firm may include pre-inception index performance data in institutional communications concerning registered open-end investment companies, subject to the stated conditions discussed in the letter.
January 31, 2019
A Few Minutes With FINRA
Chip Jones and Susan Schroeder discuss the 529 Plan Share Class Initiative. Under the program, firms can self-report to FINRA by April 1, 2019, supervisory violations related to 529 plan share-class recommendations and include a plan to remediate the issue; and in response, FINRA Enforcement will recommend that FINRA accept a settlement that includes restitution for the impact on affected customers and a censure, but no fine. (7 min. 33 sec.)
January 28, 2019
Board of Governors Meeting
Watch the video report featuring highlights from the December 2018 Board of Governors meeting and read FINRA President and CEO Robert Cook’s email to firms.
December 21, 2018
A Few Minutes With FINRA
FINRA’s Senior Vice President of Member Relations and Education Chip Jones, leads a discussion with Chief Information Security Officer John Brady, Senior Director Steve Polansky and Kansas City Surveillance Director Dave Kelley, on FINRA’s 2018 report on selected cybersecurity practices. The discussion includes an overview of the report, which highlights effective practices in five challenging areas that firms should consider to strengthen and further develop their cybersecurity programs—as well as core cybersecurity controls for small firms. (30 min. 17 sec.)
December 20, 2018
Regulation and Compliance
Cybersecurity is a major challenge for everyone – but it can be a particularly big challenge for those in the financial industry. That’s why FINRA released a new report highlighting effective cybersecurity practices for FINRA member firms. Learn more in this episode of FINRA Unscripted.
December 20, 2018
Email to Firms
The FINRA Board of Governors meets this week in New York for the final time in 2018. Read President and CEO Robert Cook’s email to firms previewing the agenda.
December 10, 2018
Report / Study
FINRA’s examination, surveillance and risk monitoring programs play a central role in supporting FINRA’s mission of investor protection and market integrity.
December 07, 2018