Wednesday, July 14, 2010

SEC Approves FINRA’s Proposal to Expand BrokerCheck Disclosure

Yesterday, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), announced in a News Release that its proposal to expand the information made available through its database, BrokerCheck, was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to the FINRA News Release, “the changes will increase the number of customer complaints reported publicly; extend the public disclosure period for the full record of a broker who leaves the industry from two years to 10 years; and, make certain information about former brokers available permanently, such as criminal convictions and certain civil injunctive actions and arbitration awards against the broker.”

The changes will be implemented in two phases. The first is slated for August and will add historic complaints. Finally, during the fall months, the full 10-year record for brokers who exited the industry will be made public. The additional information should be fully available to the public by the end of the year.

We have previously contemplated the issues surrounding additional disclosure on our blog. This posting can be accessed here.

No comments:

Post a Comment