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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
About FINRA
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Background

In response to the March 2017 Special Notice on Engagement


FAQ

1. When are books, records and accounts under the “control” of a member firm, associated person or person subject to FINRA’s jurisdiction?

For purposes of Rule 8210, whether a particular document is within a member firm’s or person’s “control” is determined by the facts and circumstances of each situation. Generally, a document will be considered to be in the control of a member firm or person if the firm or person has the legal right, authority or ability to obtain the document upon demand.1


Compliance Tools

The Executing Firm 10 Second Compliance Report Card is a monthly status report for trades that another firm reported on behalf of the market participant. The report contains counts of properly modified late trades, late trades that were not modified, and improperly modified trades.  


Guidance

FINRA Rule 3170 (Tape Recording of Registered Persons by Certain Firms)—commonly referred to as the “Taping Rule”— requires certain firms to install taping systems to record all telephone conversations between their registered persons and existing and potential customers, review those recordings and file reports with FINRA.


Compliance Tools

Overview – FINRA’s Funding Portal Rules (FP Rules) apply to firms that register with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as funding portals pursuant to the SEC’s Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) and that become FINRA FP members.


Compliance Tools
An alternative trading system (ATS) is an SEC-regulated trading venue in which a computerized system matches buy and sell orders of securities. An ATS is not a national securities exchange, an ATS may apply to the SEC to become a national securities exchange. An ATS that registers as a broker-dealer must also comply with the obligations associated with being a registered broker-dealer, including FINRA membership and compliance with FINRA rules.

Guidance

Utilize this checklist to determine if a private residence from which an associated person engages in supervisory functions meets the residential supervisory location (RSL) eligibility requirements and conditions. 


Compliance Tools
The New Account Application Template is a voluntary model brokerage account form that is provided as a resource to firms when they design or update their new account forms.

Video

While Americans as a whole are feeling less financial stress, making ends meet remains a daily struggle for women, millennials, African-Americans, Hispanics and those without a high school education, according to the NFCS, one of the largest and most comprehensive financial capability studies in the United States. The study measures four key components of financial capability—making ends meet, planning ahead, managing financial products and financial knowledge and decision making.


FAQ
View frequently asked questions related to portfolio margining under FINRA Rule 4210.

About FINRA

Background

Small firms represent a critical portion of FINRA’s membership and often face regulatory challenges that are unique from their large firm counterparts. In an effort to provide additional compliance education and consistent with the FINRA360 goal of being a more effective regulator, FINRA launched The Small Firm Report in April 2018. The Small Firm Report is a free conference call series hosted by senior FINRA leaders who discuss trending topics, new rules and regulatory guidance and best practices, as well as answer questions from participants.


Compliance Tools

The Contra Executing Firm 20 Minute Compliance report card is a monthly status report that provides information on transactions in which a firm failed, as the Contra Firm to accept / decline / compare trades within 20 minutes after execution, in apparent violation of FINRA Rules 7230A(b) and/or 7330(b).


Guidance
The Red Flags Rule requires that each "financial institution" or "creditor" --which include most member firms--implement a written program to detect, prevent and mitigate identity theft in connection with the opening or maintenance of "covered accounts."

Compliance Tools
The CE Regulatory Element Report is published each quarter for any firm that has had at least one representative take a Regulatory Element CE session during the quarter. The report provides information about the firm's performance as well as industry performance during the quarter for comparison.

FAQ
Following are "Frequently Asked Questions" regarding the Order Audit Trail System (OATS).

FAQ

Account Creation

1. I am a new user and need to request an enrollment. How do I log into TESS?

Please visit our “Enroll for a Series Exam” page and select the appropriate link for the exam you are requesting. Note that before you can enroll as a new user for an exam using TESS, you must register to create a profile. Use the following steps to register:


About FINRA

Background

Consistent with the transparency goals of FINRA360, FINRA, for the first time in 2018, published a statistical overview of the broker-dealer industry based on the data it collects in the course of its work. This report, called the FINRA Industry Snapshot 2018 , was the first annual statistical report on the brokerage firms, registered individuals and market activity that FINRA regulates.


Compliance Tools

The Market Order Timeliness (MOT) Report Card is a monthly status report based upon data reported to OATS detailing the number of customer market orders executed by your firm in NMS securities that were delayed in receiving a full execution in possible violation of both rules regarding full and prompt execution of customer market orders and the Best Execution rule. If non-compliance with these rules is found to exist, your firm may be found to be in violation of FINRA Rules 5310 and 5320.


Compliance Tools
These monthly reports cover trades of Treasuries, Securitized Products, Agency Bonds, and Corporate Debt that a member firm reported to the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE).

FAQ
Frequently asked questions related to OATS reporting requirements to OTC equity securities.

FAQ

For detailed information regarding amendments to FINRA Rule 4530, please see Regulatory Notice 13-08.


Compliance Tools

The MSRB Markup/Markdown Analysis Report is a monthly report designed to assist firms in their supervision activities by providing transparency into a portion of FINRA's surveillance of fixed income transactions' customer pricing.  

The MSRB Markup/Markdown Analysis Report is built upon logic developed to pair purchase and sale transactions reported to EMMA.  


About FINRA

Background

Until mid-2017, FINRA maintained two distinct enforcement teams within the organization—one handling disciplinary actions related to trading-based matters found through our market surveillance and trading examination programs, and the other handling cases referred from other regulatory oversight divisions within FINRA, such as sales practice examinations and our Office of Fraud Detection and Market Intelligence. Through FINRA360, we analyzed stated firm concerns that these dual programs sometimes resulted in duplication of effort and inconsistency of results.