Notices

Regulatory Notice 21-07 (Thu, 04 Mar 2021)
Summary Many investment companies provide sales charge discounts and waivers on their products for customers in certain circumstances described in their product offering documents (e.g., prospectuses or statements of additional information). These include volume-based discounts, such as breakpoints and waivers, on mutual fund exchanges. Failure to apply these discounts or waivers correctly may adversely affect customers’ rates of return on their investment and contravenes firms’ obligations under FINRA rules.
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Regulatory Notice 21-06 (Fri, 19 Feb 2021)
Summary In February 2012, pursuant to an SEC order, FINRA established an accounting support fee (GASB Accounting Support Fee) to adequately fund the annual budget of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). The GASB Accounting Support Fee is collected on a quarterly basis from member firms that report trades to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB). Each member firm’s assessment is based on its portion of the total par value of municipal securities transactions reported by all FINRA member firms to the MSRB during the previous quarter.
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Regulatory Notice 21-05 (Thu, 18 Feb 2021)
Summary The SEC has issued an Order1 that permits specified FINRA members an additional 30 calendar days for filing their annual reports as required pursuant to SEA Rule 17a-5(d), subject to certain conditions. The SEC’s Order is in response to a request by FINRA that is designed to ease potential burdens that smaller members may face in obtaining audit services. Members that meet the conditions set forth in the SEC’s Order and wish to avail themselves of the 30-day extension must provide notification to FINRA as described further in this Notice.
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Information Notice 2/16/21 (Tue, 16 Feb 2021)
Summary Effective February 25, 2021, the Section 31 fee rate applicable to specified securities transactions on the exchanges and in the over-the-counter markets will decrease from its current rate of $22.10 per million dollars in transactions to a new rate of $5.10 per million dollars in transactions. Finance-related questions should be directed to:  
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Behind the Process: How an Enforcement Action Becomes an Enforcement Action (Tue, 23 Feb 2021)
Formal disciplinary action or informal action, settlement or complaint. Or, the one you never hear about: no action. There are a lot of possible outcomes for an Enforcement investigation. And a disciplinary action is far from guaranteed at the outset of the process.  On this episode, Executive Vice President and Head of FINRA Enforcement Jessica Hopper walks us through the Enforcement process from referral to final outcome for all these possibilities and details the many steps along the way.  Resources mentioned in this episode: FINRA Enforcement Monthly Disciplinary Actions Disciplinary Actions Online Database Enforcement Process Chart Office of Hearing Officers Guide to Disciplinary Hearing Process
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Encore | Augmenting the Exam and Risk Monitoring Program with Data Analytics and Technology (Tue, 09 Feb 2021)
This episode originally aired in September 2020. 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, we hear from Member Supervision's new head of Data Analytics and Technology Kerry Gendron to learn how FINRA is augmenting its examination and risk monitoring program and teaching its employees the art of the possible. Resources mentioned in this episode: Episode 67: FINRA’s R&D Program Episode 49: Exam and Risk Monitoring Program Transformation
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