SEC Grants Trade Association's Request to Review FINRA Rule on Margin Requirements
The SEC granted a petition filed by Bond Dealers of America and one of its members to review a recently approved FINRA rule change to modify FINRA Rule 4210 ("Margin Requirements"), as to "Covered Agency Transactions." Pursuant to SEC Rule of Practice 431(e), the order approving the rule change is stayed by the filing of the petition.
Statements in support or opposition of the approval order must be filed within 21 days of publication of the granting of the petition in the Federal Register.
Commentary
The approval order remains stayed pending further SEC action. As such, FINRA's additional amendments to previously approved amendments to Rule 4210 remain ineffective until further action. The compliance date for the more recent amendments remains unknown, although FINRA previously indicated it would be "nine to ten months from [SEC] approval." The original amendments, pursuant to SR-FINRA-2015-036, are scheduled to become effective on October 26, 2022, but it would be a strange result if FINRA were to let those rules become effective given the later (now stayed) rulemaking.