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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Media Center
FINRA’s Member Relations & Education team is responsible for ensuring FINRA's regulatory programs are working for everyone and for maintaining a strong relationship with FINRA's member firms. But with a new group head looking back on an unprecedented year, the Member Relations & Education team is reimaging the future of member engagement.
January 12, 2021
Podcast
FINRA hosted the virtual AI Conference to bring together regulators and leaders across the financial services industry to discuss the use of artificial intelligence and related opportunities and challenges. On this episode, we hear about the current and future state of AI from three industry leaders.
November 24, 2020
Guidance
November 2020
FINRA is conducting a review of firms’ systems and procedures for providing customers waivers and rebates available through Rights of Reinstatement1 (RoR) on mutual fund purchases.
As part of this review, FINRA will request that each firm that receives this information request respond to the questions below with respect to the period January 1, 2017 through June 30, 2020 (the relevant period):
November 11, 2020
Podcast
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.
November 10, 2020
Podcast
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.
October 27, 2020
Podcast
Michael Morris’s research into and advocacy work around the financial security and capability of Americans with disabilities earned him the 2020 Ketchum Prize, the FINRA Foundation’s highest honor. On this episode, we talk to Morris, the founder of the National Disability Institute, about his research and advocacy work and the intersection of race and disability.
October 13, 2020
Podcast
For some investors a high-volume trading strategy could be something that they seek. For others it might be a sign of excessive trading. But when does a lot become too much? What does a firm's responsibility when it comes to supervising for this behavior? On this episode, FINRA Enforcement's Chris Kelly joins us to tell us more.
September 29, 2020
Guidance
Participating members, as defined in Rule 5110, must comply with amended Rule 5110, beginning on September 16, 2020 (the Implementation Date).1 The amended Rule will apply notwithstanding when the offering was filed or declared effective or when a participating member received a No Objections Letter.
September 16, 2020
Guidance
Filing Guidance - Public Offering Review
September 15, 2020
Podcast
Technology is opening up new possibilities when it comes to solving business challenges. And that's important when it comes to optimizing an organization's most valuable limited resource: its people. On this episode, Member Supervision's new head of Data Analytics and Technology explains how FINRA is augmenting its examination and risk monitoring program.
September 15, 2020
Virtual Conference Panel
Attend this session to hear helpful tips on complying with FINRA Rule 2210, Communications with the Public when creating, reviewing, approving, distributing or using retail communications concerning private placement offerings. Join panelists as they share helpful tips in identifying red flags in third-party prepared materials, the use of forecasts of issuers operating metrics, and distribution rates. Panelists also explain the process for filing offering documents, including retail communications, with FINRA.
September 08, 2020
Guidance
A member firm may include related performance information in institutional communications concerning Section 3(c)(1) Funds, subject to the stated conditions discussed in the letter.
September 01, 2020
Podcast
FINRA's Research and Development Program is using advanced analytics to change the way FINRA performs its essential regulatory functions. It is designed to be quick and agile, hoping to find transformative new technologies, but willing to fail and fail fast when an idea doesn't work out. On this episode, we learn more.
September 01, 2020
Guidance
On This Page:
- Checklist for Mandatory Materiality Consultations Under Rule 1017(a)(6)
- Checklist for Mandatory Materiality Consultations Under Rule 1017(a)(7)
Checklist for Mandatory Materiality Consultations Under Rule 1017(a)(6)
A member must submit a letter requesting a materiality consultation for specified changes in ownership, control, or business operations, including business expansions, involving a defined “covered pending arbitration claim,” unpaid ar
September 01, 2020
Podcast
FINRA’s ombudsman is a neutral party that acts as an impartial, confidential and independent resource to assist in finding solutions to issues or concerns an individual may have with FINRA. On this episode, we talk to FINRA’s Ombudsman to hear she works to prevent real or perceived conflicts of interest.
August 18, 2020
Arbitration and Mediation
COVID 19 has increased the demand for virtual arbitration and mediation hearings to ensure cases can proceed without lengthy delays. Upon request of the parties or order of the Panel, FINRA Dispute Resolution Services provides videoconferencing through the Zoom platform, accessible via finra.zoom.us.
August 07, 2020
Podcast
This episode originally aired in April 2019. The only thing many people know about money laundering is what they’ve learned from Hollywood. So if you want to really understand what money laundering is, and more specifically, the efforts brokerage firms must take to prevent and detect it, tune in. On this episode we talk to two of FINRA’s Anti-Money Laundering experts.
August 04, 2020
Report / Study
FINRA regulates a critical part of the securities industry – member brokerage firms doing business in the U.S. In an effort to increase public awareness and understanding about the broad range of FINRA-registered firms and individuals, FINRA shares an annual snapshot of some of the data collected in the course of its work.
July 31, 2020
FAQ
Q. Would it be consistent with FINRA Rule 3220 (Influencing or Rewarding Employees of Others) and the non-cash compensation provisions of FINRA Rules 2310, 2320, 2341 and 5110 for an associated person to host a virtual business entertainment event or a video meeting with the employees of an institutional customer or third-party broker-dealer and provide food and beverage that is designed to be consumed during that event or meeting?
July 29, 2020
Guidance
A member may use negative response letters to effect a bulk transfer of employee equity compensation plan accounts, as directed by an employer.
July 24, 2020
Podcast
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.
July 21, 2020
Podcast
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.
July 07, 2020
Podcast
You can't talk about investor protection without talking about senior investors. With a substantial increase in recent years in the number of cases involving the exploitation of seniors, FINRA Enforcement has made protecting this segment of the population a priority. On this episode, we hear what FINRA is doing and how firms can work with FINRA in this important effort.
June 23, 2020
Guidance
Registered representatives who are not qualified to engage in investment banking activities may, subject to specified conditions, receive transaction-based compensation for referring existing brokerage clients that express an interest in investment banking transactions.
June 16, 2020
Virtual Conference Panel
Today, social distancing is an important component of public health. However the isolation that results has important implications for financial decision making, fraud vulnerability, and cognition among older investors. Join this panel for a discussion of emerging research on these topics and steps you can take to further protect your clients.
June 15, 2020