Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)

FINRA’s 2018 Regulatory and Examination Priorities Letter Includes Initial Coin Offerings and Cryptocurrencies

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On January 8, 2018, the Financial Markets Regulatory Authority (“FINRA“) published its 2018 Regulatory and Examination Priorities Letter which identifies topics that FINRA will focus on in the coming year.

Included for the first time are Initial Coin Offerings and Cryptocurrencies. Specifically, the Priorities Letter states: “Digital assets (such as cryptocurrencies) and initial coin offerings (“ICOs“) have received significant media, public and regulatory attention in the past year. FINRA will closely monitor developments in this area, including the role firms and registered representatives may play in effecting transactions in such assets and ICOs. Where such assets are securities or where an ICO involves the offer and sale of securities, FINRA may review the mechanisms—for example, supervisory, compliance and operational infrastructure— firms have put in place to ensure compliance with relevant federal securities laws and regulations and FINRA rules.”

The full letter is available here

SEC and FINRA to Hold National Compliance Outreach Program for Broker-Dealers

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On May 12, the SEC and FINRA announced the opening of registration for their 2015 National Compliance Outreach Program for Broker-Dealers.  The program is intended to provide an open forum for regulators and industry professionals to discuss compliance practices and exchange ideas on compliance structures.  Release.

SEC Approves Pilot to Assess Tick Size Impact for Smaller Companies

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On May 6, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved a proposal by the national securities exchanges and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for a two-year pilot program that would widen the minimum quoting and trading increments–or tick sizes–for stocks of some smaller companies.  The SEC plans to use the pilot program to assess whether wider tick sizes enhance the market quality of these stocks for the benefit of issuers and investors.

The tick size pilot will begin by May 6, 2016.  It will include stocks of companies with $3 billion or less in market capitalization, an average daily trading volume of one million shares or less, and a volume weighted average price of at least $2.00 for every trading day.

The pilot will consist of a control group of approximately 1,400 securities and three test groups with 400 securities in each selected by a stratified sampling.  During the pilot:

  • Pilot securities in the control group will be quoted at the current tick size increment of $0.01 per share and will trade at the currently permitted increments.
  • Pilot securities in the first test group will be quoted in $0.05 minimum increments but will continue to trade at any price increment that is currently permitted.
  • Pilot securities in the second test group will be quoted in $0.05 minimum increments and will trade at $0.05 minimum increments subject to a midpoint exception, a retail investor exception, and a negotiated trade exception.
  • Pilot securities in the third test group will be subject to the same terms as the second test group and also will be subject to the “trade-at” requirement to prevent price matching by a person not displaying at a price of a trading center’s best “protected” bid or offer, unless an enumerated exception applies. In addition to the exceptions provided under the second test group, an exception for block size orders and exceptions that mirror those under Rule 611 of Regulation NMS will apply.

A variety of data generated during the tick size pilot will be released publicly on an aggregated basis to assist in analyzing the impact of wider tick sizes on smaller capitalization stocks.  The exchanges and FINRA will submit their initial assessments on the tick size pilot’s impact 18 months after the pilot begins.  Order.