Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board

Pursuant to a Securities and Exchange Commission order, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) established an accounting support fee to fund the annual budget of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). Each quarter, FINRA collects a quarter of the annual GASB accounting support fee from its member firms. Each member firm’s assessment is based on

On August 17, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued Regulatory Notice 20-29 to request comment on the practice of internalizing customer trades in the corporate bond market after obtaining auction responses, commonly known as “pennying.” The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Fixed Income Market Structure Advisory Committee (FIMSAC) defined “pennying” as a practice where a dealer initiates a bid or offer-wanted auction process on behalf of a customer, reviews the auction responses, and then executes the customer order itself at a price that either matches or slightly improves the best-priced auction response. FIMSAC stated that pennying may appear to benefit a customer but may harm overall auction competitiveness over time.
Continue Reading FINRA Requests Comment on the Practice of Pennying in the Corporate Bond Market

On April 17, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued Regulatory Notice 18-12, which announces that FINRA will collect a total of $8,346,300 to fund the annual budget of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) by collecting $2,086,575 from member firms each calendar quarter beginning in April 2018.
Continue Reading FINRA Publishes Regulatory Notice Regarding 2018 GASB Accounting Support Fee

The Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) of the Securities and Exchange Commission has announced its examination priorities for 2018. This year, the OCIE’s examination priorities fall within the following categories: examining compliance and risks in critical market infrastructures; protecting retail investors, including seniors and those saving for retirement; continuing oversight over the Financial