FINRA Podcast Recaps January 2016 Activities

FINRA summarized its latest notices, resources for firms, investor education initiatives and other news in a recap of its monthly regulatory activities.

The FINRA podcast covered the following developments:

Notices

• FINRA revised its Series 9 and 10 examination program for General Securities Sales Supervisors (FINRA Reg. Notice 16-02).

• The SEC approved an already effective amendment that applies FINRA's rule regarding markups to transactions and exempted securities that are government securities (FINRA Reg. Notice 16-03).

• The SEC approved a proposed rule change that merges FINRA's dispute resolution subsidiary with FINRA's regulation subsidiary (FINRA Reg. Notice 16-04).

• The SEC issued no-action guidance on the electronic filings of broker-dealer annual reports (FINRA Reg. Notice 16-05).

• The SEC approved FINRA funding portal rules and related forms (FINRA Reg. Notice 16-06).

• The SEC approved a new FINRA Rule that requires broker-dealers to notify FINRA if they want to act as intermediaries in transactions involving the offer or sale of securities pursuant to the JOBS Act's crowdfunding provisions (FINRA Reg. Notice 16-07).

• FINRA reminded firms that they may not use the FINRA logo (January 8, 2015 Information Notice).

• The Section 31 Fee Rate for Specified Securities Transactions will change on February 16, 2015 (January 20, 2015 Information Notice).

• FINRA reminded firms they must set up, maintain and enforce written policies and procedures that include a predetermined response to over-the-counter trading and reporting if a systems issue during the trading date prevents timely reporting (January 20, 2015 Trade Reporting Notice).

Resources for Firms

• FINRA stated that its annual entitlement account certification process is underway and will end on February 11, 2016. Superaccount Administrators at firms must either certify that firms' users have the entitlement privileges for FINRA's online applications that allow them to carry out their job responsibilities or remove firm users' access if it is no longer needed.

Education

• FINRA released the last two podcasts in a four-part series about the Continuing Education Council's Fall 2015 Firm Element Advisory.

• FINRA released the latest podcast in a four-part series about its Research Conflicts Rules. This podcast focuses on the Debt Research Conflicts Rule, including the three key areas where it differs from the rule's Equity Version.

• FINRA released a new e-learning course about private securities transactions. It features scenarios that are intended to help registered representatives identify those transactions, as well as the appropriate actions to take before engaging in them.

• FINRA announced that the FINRA Institute at Wharton's Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional Program will take place from July 17, 2016, through November 6, 2016, at the University of Pennsylvania. The program offers an intensive education in securities law and regulation over two separate residential weeks.

• FINRA's 2016 cybersecurity conference will take place on February 11, 2016, in New York City. The conference will cover many facets of cyber security, such as how to identify a firm's vulnerabilities, and how to respond to and recover from cyber attacks.

• FINRA's Annual Conference will be held from May 23 to May 25, 2016, in Washington, D.C. It will feature over 40 panel sessions, including a new advertising regulation session.

• FINRA's Fixed Income Conference is set to take place on September 7, 2016, in New York City.

FINRA News

• FINRA issued its 2016 Regulatory and Examination Priorities Letter, which focuses on topics that include Supervision, Risk Management, Technology, Firm Culture and Conflicts of Interest. FINRA also released a new episode of its video series, "A Few Minutes with FINRA," in which FINRA Executive Vice President of Regulatory Operations Dan Sibears expands on the priorities in the letter.

Investor News

• FINRA offered suggestions to investors in order to help them prepare for the new year. The suggestions include focusing on financial security, setting clearly prioritized goals, and knowing one's investment professional.