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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
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).


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.


FAQ
Frequently asked questions about FINRA BrokerCheck, a free tool for researching brokers, brokerage firms, investment advisers & investment adviser firms.

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.  


Compliance Tools

Overview

When considering their obligations to provide all available breakpoint discounts on sales of Class A shares of front-end load mutual funds, member firms may review the following Breakpoint Checklist and Breakpoint Worksheet, which may help member firms evaluate their breakpoint compliance programs and confirm whether they are capturing all relevant categories of information to provide customers all available breakpoint discounts.


Guidance
The trading activity fee (TAF) is one of the regulatory fees FINRA assesses to recover the costs of supervising and regulating firms.

About FINRA

Background

Examinations are central to FINRA's regulatory operations, and they are one of the principal means by which the organization protects investors and promotes market integrity. FINRA's examinations also aim to provide valuable feedback to firms on areas for improvement and best practices based on insights we have gathered from examining others in the industry.


FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Structured Product Reports

FAQ
1. How do I submit form filings to Web CRD? Upon completion of a filing...

Compliance Tools

The Municipal Continuing Disclosure Report displays statistics about transactions that your firm effected with customers. The report provides relevant information about the availability of official statements, annual financial filings, and event filings on the MSRB's Electronic Municipal Market Access system (EMMA) at the time the securities were sold or purchased. Specifically, the report shows counts of transactions with customers for which official statements and/or current annual financial filings were not available on EMMA at the time the transaction occurred.


Guidance
To support their investor protection missions, FINRA and state securities regulators jointly collect and publicly disclose extensive registration information about financial professionals associated with broker-dealer firms (referred to herein as FINRA-registered financial professionals or RFPs). This registration information, which includes information about customer complaints, is used by regulators to license and oversee RFPs. The information publicly disclosed about RFPs is far more comprehensive than what is published for most other types of professionals.

Compliance Tools
The TRACE Detail Data Download is designed to accompany the TRACE Quality of Markets Summary Report Card as a tool to help a firm analyze and improve its compliance-related activities associated with reporting transactions via TRACE.

About FINRA

Background

In March 2017, FINRA's Board of Governors established a new standing committee, the Regulatory Operations Oversight Committee (ROOC), to advise and assist the Board in providing oversight on FINRA's regulatory operations, and supplementing FINRA's broader self-evaluation through FINRA360. This includes providing guidance on the full breadth of FINRA's regulatory operations, including Member Supervision, Market Regulation and Enforcement, among others. The ROOC does not engage in discussions regarding individual enforcement matters.


FAQ
Regulation NMS Plan to Address Extraordinary Market Volatility Plan Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ
1. What is meant by a "Queue?" A Queue is an online electronic listing...

Compliance Tools

The Municipal Trades Below Minimum Denomination Report displays statistics about transactions your firm effected with customers where the denomination was below the minimum denomination provided to DTCC’s New Issue Information Dissemination Service (NIIDS) and/or reference data obtained from Thomson Reuters.  This report is designed to aid firms in monitoring their compliance with MSRB Rule G-15(f).  MSRB Rule G-15 (f) requires, with some exceptions, that firms should no