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.
