[ by Howard Haykin ]
 

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, FINRA recognizes that members need relief from many regulatory
requirements as a result of the dislocation caused by Hurricane Sandy.  And so, the SRO published a Regulatory Notice provide guidance to impacted members on several regulatory and compliance issues, including these topics:

• emergency office relocations.
• continuing education requirements for registered personnel.
• registered personnel engaged in active military duty.
• regulatory filings and inquiries.
• membership applications.
• customer communications.

FINRA Staff Contacts.   Direct questions to:   Daniel Sibears, EVP, Member Regulation Programs - (202) 728-6911; FINRA Call Center - (301) 590-6500.  Keep in mind that members may also refer to the dedicated Hurricane Sandy page on the FINRA web site.

Emergency Office Relocations.   [e.g., temporary offices or space-sharing arrangements]  To relocate displaced personnel, firms not impacted by Hurricane Sandy are encouraged to make office space available and to otherwise assist those who have been recently displaced. If a firm relocates displaced personnel to a temporary location that is not currently registered as a branch office or identified as a regular non-branch location, the firm should use its best efforts to provide written notification to its FINRA Regulatory Coordinator as soon as possible after establishing a new temporary office or space-sharing arrangement, to include at minimum: the office address, the entities involved, the names of registered personnel, a contact telephone number and, if possible, the expected duration. The notification should also indicate the type of business that the firm providing the space is engaged in (e.g., sharing arrangement is with an organization in a securities or some other kindred business).

Regulatory Filings and Responses to FINRA Inquiries, Matters and Investigations.   Due to area power outages and network unavailability, some firms may have difficulty making timely regulatory filings and responding to regulatory inquiries or investigations.  In some instances, there is currently no estimated date or time for power or servers to be restored. As a result, some firms may need extensions for open inquiries, investigations or  upcoming filings, such as filings related to customer complaints that were received just prior to and in the days immediately following Hurricane Sandy. Firms that require extra time to comply with open requests or that may be delayed with required filings are to contact their Regulatory Coordinators or FINRA department making the request to seek extensions.

Form U4.   FINRA is temporarily suspending the requirement to maintain updated Form U4 information (e.g., office of employment address) for registered employees affected by the referenced relocations associated with this vent. In addition, it is not necessary to submit branch office applications for any newly opened temporary office locations or space-sharing arrangements established as a result of recent events.

Customer Communication.   In instances where RRs are unavailable to service their customers, firms are encouraged to promptly place a notice on their websites indicating to affected customers who they may contact concerning their accounts, access to funds or securities.

Qualifications Examinations and Continuing Education.   FINRA is extending the continuing education requirements and qualifications examination windows for candidates who reside in the Mid-Atlantic and North Eastern Regions of the United States declared a “major disaster” by the federal or state governments. RRs who have a qualifications examination or a continuing education window due to expire between 10/29/12 and 11/9/12 will have their windows extended to 12/10/12. As more information becomes available, FINRA may provide additional extensions.

Please contact FINRA Field Support Services at (800) 999-6647 with any questions or if you require additional information on test center status in these areas.
 

Information for Applicants for FINRA Membership and Existing Member Firms.   FINRA is currently unable to access its offices in New York City where its membership staff is primarily located. FINRA remains committed to working through membership applications so that decisions on applications may be issued as quickly as possible. FINRA staff may not have received application materials submitted electronically or via hard copy mail on or around Monday, 10/29/12.  It would be best to confirm with FINRA’s Membership Application Program staff that they, in fact, did receive materials submitted during the week of 10/29/12.

Military Personnel and National Guard.   The National Guard has a substantial presence in the areas impacted by the storm to provide assistance. As such, please be reminded that FINRA By-Laws provide specific relief to FINRA registered persons engaged in the investment banking and securities business who volunteer or are called into active military duty. Under Interpretive Material 1000-2, such persons will be placed in a specially designated “inactive” status once FINRA is notified of their military call-up, but will remain registered for FINRA purposes.  Such persons will remain eligible to receive transaction-related compensation, including continuing commissions, because they remain registered with a firm while on inactive status.

Also, an employing firm may allow a registered person on inactive status to enter into an arrangement with another person registered with the employing firm to service his or her accounts and to share in commissions generated by those accounts. However, such a person on inactive status may not perform any duties of a registered person. In addition, dues and assessments identified in Article VI of the FINRA By-Laws will be waived for such persons.

Firms should notify FINRA of such events by mailing or faxing to the Registration and Disclosure Department a letter (on firm letterhead) identifying the name and CRD number of the person called into ctive duty, the name and CRD number of the firm (or firms) with whom the person is associated, the date the firm received notification from the individual and a copy of the official call-up notification. Firms should mail letters notifying FINRA of military call-ups to FINRA Registration and Disclosure Department, P.O. Box 9495, Gaithersburg, MD 20898-9495 or fax them to (240) 386-4751.

If you have questions about this process, please call the Gateway Call Center at (301) 590-6500. For more information view our Active Military Leave Guidance Web page.

For further details, go to:  [FINRA RegNote 12-45, October 2012].