FINRA Notice 15-52

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Summary

December 2015

FINRA is issuing this Notice to remind firms and registered representatives of their obligations under Rule 603(c) of Regulation NMS (Vendor Display Rule) when providing quotation information to customers. The SEC staff recently made clear its view that if a registered representative provides a quotation to a customer that can be used to assess the current market or the quality of trade execution, reliance on non-consolidated market information as the source of that quotation would not be consistent with the Vendor Display Rule. In light of the SEC staff’s statements, firms should review whether they are in compliance with the requirement in the Vendor Display Rule that broker-dealers provide a consolidated display of market data when they are providing quotation information to customers.

See the attached pdf, for the full text:

pdf FINRA_Notice_15-52.pdf

FINRA Notice 15-51

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Summary

December 2015

Pursuant to rule amendments that will be effective February 1, 2016, FINRA is introducing a new category of trade submissions—clearing-only, non- regulatory reports—that firms can use to submit to clearing those OTC transactions in equity securities that have been previously reported through a FINRA facility.1 Clearing-only, non-regulatory reports cannot be used for regulatory reporting purposes. As such, firms can only use these reports where their regulatory reporting obligations to FINRA have been satisfied through other submissions (tape reports, i.e., submitted for public dissemination purposes, or non-tape reports).

The amended rule text is available in the online FINRA Manual.

See the attached pdf, for the full text:

pdf FINRA_Notice_15-51.pdf

FINRA Notice 15-50

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Summary

Effective Date: June 6, 2016

The SEC approved amendments to FINRA Rule 2210 (Communications with the Public) to require each of a member firm’s websites to include a readily apparent reference and hyperlink to BrokerCheck on (1) the initial Web page that the firm intends to be viewed by retail investors, and (2) any other Web page that includes a professional profile of one or more registered persons who conduct business with retail investors.

The rule amendments become effective June 6, 2016.

See the attached pdf, for the full text:

pdf FINRA_Notice_15-50.pdf

FINRA Notice 15-49

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Summary

Effective Date: December 12, 2015

The SEC approved a change to FINRA Rule 8312 (FINRA BrokerCheck Disclosure) to reduce the waiting period from 15 days to three business days for the release of certain information reported on the Form U5 (Uniform Termination Notice for Securities Industry Registration) through BrokerCheck.

The effective date is December 12, 2015.

See the attached pdf, for the full text:

pdf FINRA_Notice_15-49.pdf