FINRA and SIPC Streamline Broker-Dealer Reporting Process
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation have agreed to simplify the process of filing annual financial reports by member firms in order to ease reporting burdens and compliance costs.
Beginning September 1st, member firms that currently file annual reports separately with SIPC and FINRA will just file once, using FINRA’s existing reporting portal. The portal will provide both agencies with the information, enabling the firms to meet the two agencies’ respective reporting requirements with a single filing.
The new filing process is also expected to reduce inconsistent or incomplete filing of annual audited financial statements and supplementary reports.
FINRA president and CEO Robert Cook said, “Streamlining a regulatory filing requirement in a manner that reduces burdens on firms while preserving important investor protections is consistent with the goals of FINRA360, our ongoing review of our regulatory programs and operations.”
FINRA regulates brokerage firms doing business with the public in the United States. The organization, which is overseen by the SEC, writes rules, enforces compliance with its rules and federal securities laws, registers broker-dealer personnel and offers education and training, and administers a dispute resolution forum for investors and brokerage firms.
The Securities Investor Protection Corporation is a federally mandated, non-profit corporation created under the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970 and mandates membership of most US-registered broker-dealers. SIPC is also overseen by the SEC and protects against the loss of cash and securities held by a customer at a financially-troubled SIPC-member brokerage firm.
