On Thursday, April 4, we received numerous inquiries from investment adviser firm owners and/or senior executives who had received an unexpected email supposedly from FINRA’s Chief Legal Officer or Chief Information Officer which utilized an email address ending in @ data-finra .org. In response, our Consulting Team contacted the IARD Entitlement Support Line which confirmed that these emails did not originate from FINRA.
It was brought recently to our attention that many of our investment adviser clients have received a suspicious email similar to the sample below. This email appears to be sent from the email domain: claims-finra.org and includes a subject line such as “Re: FINRA URGENT REQUEST FOR….”
The deadline for investment advisers to submit their Preliminary Renewal Statement payment is quickly approaching. FINRA must be in receipt of the full payment listed on the Preliminary Renewal Statement by December 13, 2021. Investment advisers with sufficient funds in their Flex-Funding Account to cover the Preliminary Renewal Statement payment will have funds automatically transferred beginning on December 13, 2021 to the Renewal Account to cover total renewal fees owed. Automatic transfers will be conducted every day after December 13, 2021 until the WEB CRD/IARD shuts down for year-end processing on December 27, 2021. Investment advisers that choose to mail in their payments are advised to do so now to avoid delays and to ensure funds are received by the deadline.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) recently announced fines against 12 broker-dealers for alleged deficiencies related to their cybersecurity and record retention practices. In each case, the firms – who have consented to the fine without admitting or denying the charges – allegedly failed to properly store electronic records in a “write once read many” format that is meant to protect records from illicit alteration. The “write once read many” format is required by FINRA rules and protects broker-dealers against malicious interference with their vital business records, whether by outside hackers or disgruntled insiders.
The deadline for investment advisers to submit their Preliminary Renewal Statement payment is quickly approaching. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) must be in receipt of the full payment listed on the Preliminary Renewal Statement by Friday, December 18, 2015. Investment advisers with sufficient funds in their Flex-Funding Account to cover the Preliminary Renewal Statement payment will have funds automatically transferred beginning on Friday, December 11, 2015 to their Renewal Account to cover total renewal fees owed. Automatic transfers will be conducted every day after December 11, 2015 until the WEB CRD/IARD shuts down for year-end processing on Tuesday, December 29, 2015. Investment advisers that choose to mail in their payments are advised to do so now to avoid delays and to ensure funds are received by the deadline. If your investment adviser would like assistance with the annual renewal service, click here for more information on or to purchase RIA Compliance Consultants’ IARD Renewal Program and ADV Amendment Service. If you have questions regarding these or any of the other services offered by RIA Compliance Consultants, please contact your consultant if you are an existing client or click here if you have not previously engaged RIA Compliance Consultants for our services.
Don’t wait until the last minute to submit your annual renewal fees. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) must be in receipt of the full payment listed on the Preliminary Renewal Statement, which is now available, by Friday, December 18, 2015. Investment advisers with sufficient funds in their Flex-Funding Account to cover the Preliminary Renewal Statement payment will have funds automatically transferred beginning Friday, December 11, 2015 to the Renewal Account to cover total renewal fees owed. Investment advisors that choose to mail in their payments are advised to do so now to avoid delays and to ensure funds are received by the deadline. If your investment adviser would like assistance with the annual renewal service, click here for more information on or to purchase RIA Compliance Consultants’ IARD Renewal Program and ADV Amendment Services.
Effective March 18, 2013, the IARD/CRD system implemented an E-Bill system for registered investment advisor firms to fund their FINRA Flex-Funding Account (CRD/IARD Daily Account). See the Account Payment Methods and Addresses section in the IARD public site for detailed information. Investment advisor firms may continue to use the existing Web CRD/IARD E-Pay system to make electronic (ACH) payments to their Daily Account until June 17, 2013, when the Web CRD/IARD E-Pay link will be replaced by a link to E-Bill.
The Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (“IAPD”) website was created by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to provide investors with information about their investment adviser and investment adviser representative. The IAPD was created as a result of a 1996 amendment to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The website provides information on both SEC and state registered investment advisers, certain investment adviser firms that are exempt from registration with the SEC or states, and state-registered investment adviser representatives.
