Effective Date: July 1, 2019

SEC Approves Amendments to Arbitration Codes to Expand Time for Non-Parties to Respond to Arbitration Subpoenas and Orders of Appearance of Witnesses or Production of Documents

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved amendments to FINRA’s customer and industry arbitration rules to expand time for non-parties to respond to arbitration subpoenas and orders of appearance of witnesses or production of documents. The amendments also make related changes to enhance the discovery process for forum users.

The amendments are effective for cases filed on or after July 1, 2019.

Questions concerning this Notice should be directed to: Leslie Leutwiler, Associate Director, Office of Dispute Resolution, at (212) 858-4136; or Kristine Vo, Principal Counsel, Office of General Counsel, at (212) 858-4106.

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The annual meeting of FINRA firms will take place on or about Monday, August 19, 2019, to elect one Large Firm Governor and one Small Firm Governor to the FINRA Board of Governors (FINRA Board). A formal notice of the meeting, including the precise date, time and location, will be mailed to executive representatives on or about July 19, 2019. 

The purpose of this Election Notice is to notify FINRA members of the FINRA Nominating Committee’s nominees to fill these vacancies and inform individuals not nominated by the Nominating Committee of the petition procedures set forth in FINRA’s By-Laws for being included on the ballot for these elections.

Questions regarding this Election Notice may be directed to Marcia E. Asquith, Executive Vice President and Corporate Secretary, or Jennifer Piorko Mitchell, Vice President and Deputy Corporate Secretary, by email or at (202) 728-8949.

Note: FINRA distributed this Notice electronically to the executive representative of each FINRA firm and posted it online at www.finra.org/Notices/Election/05242019. Executive representatives should circulate this Notice to their firms’ branch managers. 

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FINRA is issuing this Notice to remind firms they must register with FINRA CAT, LLC (FINRA CAT) for reporting to the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT). CAT registration commenced on March 18, 2019, and will run through June 27, 2019. All Industry Members, as defined under the CAT NMS Plan, that will have a CAT reporting obligation must register during this window.

Regulatory Notice 19-19

All questions regarding CAT registration should be directed to the FINRA CAT Helpdesk at (888) 696-3348.

The world of money laundering is fast-paced and ever evolving as we learned on the last episode of FINRA Unscripted. That can make it difficult for a financial firm to develop and maintain a robust anti-money laundering program.

On this episode of FINRA Unscripted, we are joined once again by Blake Snyder and Jason Foye of FINRA’s AML Investigative Unit to discuss current priorities and best practices when it comes to anti-money laundering regulation.

Click below to read more:

http://www.finra.org/industry/podcasts/beyond-hollywood-part-ii-aml-priorities-and-best-practices

FINRA is issuing this Notice to provide guidance to member firms regarding suspicious activity monitoring and reporting obligations under FINRA Rule 3310 (Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Program).

Regulatory-Notice-19-18

Questions concerning this Notice should be directed to: Victoria Crane, Associate General Counsel, Office of General Counsel, at (202) 728-8104; or Blake Snyder, Senior Director, Member Regulation, at (561) 443-8051.

Please read the following regarding FINRA Exam Restructuring starting October 1, 2018.

FINRA Exam Restructuring_TAA

FINRA Exam Restructuring

2018 Regulatory and Examination Priorities Letter

FINRA Fines on Pace to Drop 73% in 2017