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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
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
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

Mr. Michael Markunas
Deputy General Counsel
Chief Compliance Officer
B. Riley FBR, Inc.
11100 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 800
Los Angeles, CA 90025

Re:      Investment Banking Referrals

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June 16, 2020
Report / Study

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is transforming the financial services industry across the globe.

June 10, 2020
About FINRA

FINRA is a not-for-profit, self-regulatory organization (SRO) dedicated to promoting investor protection and market integrity in a manner that facilitates vibrant capital markets. One of FINRA’s tools for achieving this objective is fair and effective enforcement of our member firms’ compliance with securities laws and regulations.

June 04, 2020
Report / Study
Seniors make up an increasingly large share of the American population1 and hold higher levels of wealth than other generations. These factors, among others, make seniors an attractive target for financial exploitation, with evidence suggesting that such exploitation has been increasing in terms of both scope and magnitude.
April 30, 2020
FAQ

Will I be able to log in to FINRA Gateway with my existing Firm Gateway credentials? 

Yes, Firm Gateway users will be able to log in to FINRA Gateway using their existing Firm Gateway credentials.

Can I customize my experience in FINRA Gateway? 

Yes. As of April 7, 2020, you can:

April 15, 2020
Podcast
FINRA is committed to the protection of senior investors and other vulnerable adults. That’s why FINRA launched the Securities Helpline for Seniors. On this episode, we hear how the Helpline handles calls, frequent areas of concern and how the Helpline has evolved over the five years since its launch.
April 14, 2020
Guidance
FINRA is sharing the following common practices we observed while conducting Reg BI preparedness reviews and other ongoing conversations with firms. We hope this helps firms assess their Reg BI initiatives and continue their work preparing for the compliance date.
April 08, 2020
Guidance

February 2020

Trading & Financial Compliance Examinations (“TFCE”) of the Market Regulation Department (“Market Regulation”) at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) is conducting a review of [FIRM] concerning the Firm’s decision not to charge commissions for customer transactions, the impact that not charging commissions has or will have on the Firm’s order routing practices and decisions, and other aspects of the Firm’s business. 

February 20, 2020
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) regarding the purpose of FINRA Rule 3230 and “do-not-call-lists”
November 27, 2019
FAQ

Is there a rule that addresses prohibited conditions relating to expungement of customer dispute information?

Yes, FINRA Rule 2081 provides that no member or associated person shall condition or seek to condition settlement of a dispute with a customer on, or to otherwise compensate the customer for, the customer’s agreement to consent to, or not to oppose, the member’s or associated person’s request to expunge customer dispute information from the CRD system. 

Does FINRA Rule 2081 apply only to settlements?

November 22, 2019
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. 
October 02, 2019
Guidance

FINRA is issuing this Notice to remind member firms of their supervisory obligations under FINRA Rules 3110 (Supervision) and 3120 (Supervisory Control System) if they hold or transact in customer accounts owned by municipal entities or obligated persons (municipal clients), as defined in Section 15B of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act), and participate in investment-related activities with municipal clients, such as recommending or selling non-municipal securities products to such municipal clients.

August 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
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
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
Guidance

This article highlights some of the common cybersecurity threats faced by broker-dealers. In a number of cases, FINRA has observed that different types of attacks were coordinated and overlapped.

July 09, 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
Podcast
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.
April 30, 2019
About FINRA

FINRA is a not-for-profit, self-regulatory organization (SRO) dedicated to promoting investor protection and market integrity in a manner that facilitates vibrant capital markets. One of FINRA’s tools for achieving this objective is fair and effective enforcement of our member firms’ compliance with securities laws and regulations.

April 26, 2019
Podcast
Twenty years after its last major update, FINRA’s Central Registration and Depository (CRD) system, the backbone of BrokerCheck, is getting a facelift. On this episode of FINRA Unscripted, we hear what users can expect from the multi-year CRD transformation process.
March 05, 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
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