Stock Record and Allocation Data Filing

In an effort to improve FINRA's ability to assess risk and the efficiency of the examination process by tailoring examination reviews to each firm's business, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has implemented a financial and operational automation project for carrying and clearing member organizations. FINRA is requesting that firms submit their Stock Record, Chart of Accounts and SEA Rule 15c3-3 Reserve Formula Allocation data in a standardized format, using eXtensible Markup Language ("XML").

Please use the documents linked on this page in Section (II) to assist you in fulfilling the request for your firm's Stock Record and Rule 15c3-3 Reserve Formula Allocation data. FINRA has included detailed data definitions for the information that is requested.

This page outlines the following support information:

1. Overview
2. Documentation
3. Structuring the Data: XSD Files and Diagrams
4. Submitting Files: Request Manager, FINRA Gateway, & Secure FTP
5. Validations
6. Super Account Administrator (SAA) Lookup

Following are the respective details in each of the sections outlined above:

1. Overview

If you need assistance, with a specific request, please contact the FINRA Staff member(s) who issued the request.

For technical assistance, please email [email protected].

Process Overview

2. Documentation

Stock Record & Allocation Data Filing User Guide (PDF 1.6 MB)

Complete List of Validations (Excel 43 KB)

Supporting documentation (to be submitted upon request):

3. Structuring the Data: XSD Files and Diagrams

Access each XSD or diagram file individually below or download all files (Zip 376 KB)

4. Submitting Files: Request Manager, FINRA Gateway, & Secure FTP

See the Stock Record & Allocation Data Filing User Guide for guidance re: preparing the files for submission (including naming conventions and compression requirements).

All files need to be submitted via the relevant Information Request in the FINRA Gateway.

Request Manager

1. Detailed information about Request Manager, including the User Guide (see "Resources"), is available at https://www.finra.org/filing-reporting/request-manager.
2. Request Manager can be accessed directly via: https://firms.finra.org

How to Access Request Manager: Entitlements

Access to FINRA's web applications is managed through the FINRA Entitlement Program. Your user account must have the following entitlements:

• Secure Request Manager (entitles you to view the request in FINRA Gateway)
• eAnalytics (adds your contact information to our system so that FINRA can send you requests; please ensure that your SSA has updated your user account with your latest contact information)

Please contact your SAA for more information. For help identifying your SAA, see 6. Super Account Administrator (SAA) Lookup.

How to View the Request in Request Manager

1. The request can be viewed by clicking the "View Request" link in the Record Request Notification email.
2. Alternatively, the request can be accessed through Request Manager, via the FINRA Gateway.

For additional guidance, see the Request Manager User Guide.

Methods for Uploading Files

There are two ways to upload files:

• Uploading files via FINRA Gateway: (no file size limitations, but bandwidth limitations on the firm's side may cause interruptions when uploading large files).
• Uploading files via Secure FTP: (some SFTP clients can be inconsistent when transferring very large files: if your firm's SFTP client experiences timeouts when transferring very large files, try breaking the file up into multiple smaller files.

Uploading files via FINRA Gateway

You can either drag and drop files or browse for files in the open information request. Once all files have been uploaded successfully, click the "Send Response" button.

Uploading Files via Secure FTP

Secure FTP Connections (SFTP): Firms can programmatically send, track, and receive files in one place via FINRA's centralized, secure file transfer platform. fileX significantly streamlines the process for submitting bulk filings to FINRA, provides additional options for downloading files from FINRA, and allows for seamless and secure authentication and authorization. For more information about fileX, including destination folders, SFTP account and password assistance, and SFTP configuration, refer to the fileX User Guide: http://www.finra.org/sites/default/files/fileX_User_Guide.pdf and the FINRA Industry Page - Filing & Reporting > Data Transfer Tools: http://www.finra.org/industry/fileX

Finalizing the Information Request: Once files are transmitted via SFTP to Request Manager, complete the Request Manager submission:

• Access Request Manager via FINRA Gateway to finalize the firm's response to the Information Request.
• Prior to clicking on the "Send Response" button, ensure that all files have been uploaded successfully via Secure FTP.
• Then click "Send Response" to submit the files to FINRA.

5. Validations

As is the case when viewing / responding to requests, your user account must have the appropriate entitlements to view the validation results in "Report Center".

The File Quality Scorecard (FQS) and Data Quality Scorecard (DQS) reports show the results of every validation performed during the ingest process. Each validation failure is accompanied by an explanation as to the cause of the failure and examples of the invalid data. This process enables the firm to identify the errors, correct the erroneous data, and resubmit corrected files. For more information, please see 7.3 A Closer Look at File Validations and 7.4 A Closer Look at Data Validations.

File Quality Scorecard (FQS)

There are two sections to the FQS Summary:

1. Failed: File validation failures that require correction.
2. Passed: File validations that have passed evaluation.

To view the Data Quality Scorecard (DQS) results for your submissions, use the following URL. https://newreportcenter.finra.org/reportcenter/reports/file-quality-scorecard/report-view/13

Data Quality Scorecard (DQS)

There are three sections to the DQS Summary:

1. Warning: Hard validation failures that may require correction. FINRA staff will review to determine whether the firm needs to correct and resubmit the data.
2. Failed
   • Hard validation failures that require correction and resubmission of the file(s).
   • Soft validation failures that may require explanation.
3. Passed: Validations that have passed evaluation.

To view the Data Quality Scorecard (DQS) results for your submissions, use the following URL. https://newreportcenter.finra.org/reportcenter/reports/data-quality-scorecard/report-view/13

6. Super Account Administrator (SAA) Lookup

The Entitlement Program allows your firm's Super Account Administrator (SAA) to create and entitle accounts for FINRA applications as described above. To identify your firm's SAA, please login to Firm Gateway at https://firms.finra.org/ with your website account and follow the steps below. (Note: Do not use ftp account credentials as they will not work on this site.)

1. Click on "My Account" at the top right of the screen, above your user name
2. Click on "Applications & Administrators" , under the My Account menu on the left
3. Please contact the SAA that appears for your organization or proceed to look up specific application entitlement details as follows:
   • Review the table that lists all FINRA applications available to your organization
   • Identify the Account Administrator (AA) for the specific entitlement you are interested in
     1. Report Center
     2. Secure Request Manager
     3. eAnalytics
   • Please contact the applicable Administrator to change your permissions
   • View our Super Account Administrator (SAA) page for more information.