The COVID Project
Context, not an orderThis record is guidance or an announcement kept for context. It is not counted among the orders in force.
The record
- Jurisdiction
- United States; Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (self-regulatory organization registered under Exchange Act § 15A, 15 U.S.C. § 78o-3, subject to SEC oversight)
- Level
- Sector regulator
- Authority
- 15 U.S.C. § 78o-3(b)(6); FINRA Rule 3110 and Rule 4370
- Issued
- 2020-03-09 Mar. 9, 2020
- Effective
- 2020-03-09
- End
- Temporary relief remained in effect through the pandemic period; FINRA's remote-inspection rule (Ex. 076) governed 2020 and 2021 inspections; no withdrawal before September 30, 2021 located (read as 2021-09-30)
- In force
- Mar. 9, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021
- Quarters
- 2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Telework mandateWorkplace rulesOther
- Addressees
- all FINRA member broker-dealers and their registered persons
- Functions reached
- OP office premises (temporary remote offices; Form BR and Form U4 relief)
- OP supervision (branch inspections postponed)
- WM brokerage and advisory operations
- HR registered-person records
- WF
- Character
- context
- Collection
- Federal financial regulators AGY-FED-FINANCIAL
Operative words
Due to the recent outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), FINRA reminds member firms to consider pandemic-related business continuity planning, including whether their business continuity plans (BCPs) are sufficiently flexible to address a wide range of possible effects in the event of a pandemic in the United States.... [Where a pandemic requires] remote offices or telework arrangements (e.g., working from home or a backup or recovery location)... member firms are not required to submit branch office applications on Form BR for any newly opened temporary office locations [and] FINRA is temporarily suspending the requirement to maintain updated Form U4 information regarding office of employment address for registered persons [who temporarily relocate];... scheduled on-site inspections of branch offices may need to be temporarily postponed during the pandemic.
Enforcement
FINRA rules are enforceable against members under 15 U.S.C. § 78o-3(b)(7) and FINRA Rule 8310 (fines, suspension, expulsion); the notice conditions the relief on the temporary nature of the relocation and on supervision
Notes
The conditions on which every broker-dealer moved its registered persons home in March 2020; treated as conditions imposed by a self-regulatory organization under SEC oversight
Retrieval noteRendered from the March 15, 2020 Wayback capture of the FINRA notice page; live finra.org is behind a bot check. it is not itself an order, rule, directive, resolution or condition of a license or contract. Cite it as context and cite the underlying order or statute as the instrument).