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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. 

5 A B C D E F G H I L M N O P Q R S T V
FAQ
The following FAQ address general Entitlement questions. For detailed information, refer to the website specific to each user group...

Compliance Tools

In Regulatory Notice 23-17, FINRA announced its decision, effective November 30, 2023, to discontinue collecting INSITE data, pursuant to Rule 4540, at this time.  As a result, effective November 30, 2023, the Customer Debits Report was retired from the FINRA Report Center.


FAQ
CRD FAQ - Form Filing for Individuals - Disclosure

Compliance Tools
The Joint NASD/Industry Task Force recommended two changes to mutual fund confirmations that are intended to help investors determine whether they received all the breakpoints discounts to which they were entitled on each mutual fund transaction.

FAQ
Frequently asked questions about private placements.

About FINRA

Background

FINRA promotes the capital-raising process through appropriately tailored rules that are designed to promote transparency and to establish important standards of conduct for the benefit of all market participants, including investors and issuers participating in offerings.


FAQ

Question 1

Does FINRA Rule 3210 impose any requirement as to what specific information or data an employer member must review or monitor upon receiving duplicate copies of confirmations and statements, or the transactional data contained therein, with respect to an account subject to the rule?

Answer


FAQ
Preliminary Note: FINRA recently adopted enhanced confirmation disclosure requirements for corporate and agency bonds.

Compliance Tools

The TRACE Quality of Markets Report Card for Securitized Products is a monthly status report for the reporting of transactions in Asset Backed Securities, Mortgage Backed Securities and other similar securities, collectively defined as "Securitized Products", to the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE). Firms are required to report trades in accordance with established FINRA rules and regulations.


FAQ

Q. What is a duplicate disclosure and how is a duplicate disclosure created?


About FINRA

Background

An important part of FINRA's work involves providing investors the information and tools they require to make informed decisions about their assets and avoid dealings with bad actors. Several respondents to the Special Notice on Engagement issued in March 2017 provided a range of recommendations related to FINRA's efforts in the area of investor education—including the types of investor education content we develop and our dissemination strategies.


FAQ
Frequently asked questions regarding Business Continuity Planning (BCP) and FINRA Rule 4370.

Compliance Tools

The Cross-Market Equities Supervision Manipulation Report is a tool designed to provide firms feedback on exceptions that were generated based on the firm’s order entry and trading activity in a given surveillance period. The report covers two distinct analyses; layering and Cross-Market Quote Spoofing. This report is produced on a monthly basis.


Compliance Tools

This report provides a summary of the review activity for the filings submitted during the selected and previous reporting periods.

If you have questions regarding the content of this report, please contact FINRA Corporate Financing at (240) 386-4623.

Deals Filed During the Selected Period

Term

Description

FINRA Review Program


About FINRA

Background

In response to the March 2017 Special Notice on Engagement issued as part of FINRA360, FINRA received a number of comments and suggestions regarding engagement in connection with FINRA's rulemaking process. After carefully reviewing and analyzing the comments, FINRA is taking a number of actions to address the comments and suggestions that it received.

Rulemaking Process


FAQ

Questions and Answers on FINRA’s Eligibility Proceedings for Firms Participating in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC” or “Commission”) Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative (“SCSD Initiative”).


Guidance

CRCP® Program Overview

Learn more about the purpose and content of the FINRA Institute at Georgetown CRCP® program. They include building a culture of compliance and helping compliance professionals take their careers to the next level.


Compliance Tools

The 4530 Disclosure Timeliness Report Card is produced on a monthly basis to show a firm's performance in timely reporting of disclosure events as required by FINRA Rule 4530(a) and (b). The information in this report comes primarily from the Rule 4530 Application; to read more about the system, please see Disclosure Events and Customer Complaint Filings.


Compliance Tools
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The Report Center provides firms with secure access to data and reports that help firms detect potential compliance problems early. FINRA Report Center provides report cards that cover a variety of topics and rulesets.   

Reports on the Report Center do not relieve a firm from compliance obligations imposed under FINRA’s By-Laws and Rules, and will not limit or prevent FINRA from taking appropriate regulatory or disciplinary action against a firm or associated person for failure to comply with such rules.


About FINRA

Background

A large number of registered representatives are also Certified Financial PlannerTM (CFP®) professionals. These professionals must complete a minimum of 30 continuing education (CE) hours every two years as part of the requirements for CFP certification renewal. Through the FINRA360 process, a number of firms expressed a desire for improved opportunities with regard to continuing education credits.


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.

FAQ
Every day at FINRA, we protect investors from misconduct, stop fraud and provide restitution to harmed customers. And we are successful—in part because customers and other members of the public provide information and crucial evidence during the course of an investigation.

Compliance Tools

The Firm Summary Scorecard provides an overview of certain performance and comparison statistics from each of the active individual report cards in one specific location. The Scorecard supplies data available in the respective report cards for the current month and the preceding month.

Report Glossary

The table below provides a reference description for all of the elements found in the Firm Summary Scorecard. (See Firm Summary Scorecard for a sample segment of the report.)

Term