Late last week, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) quietly posted a new regulatory notice proposing a series of pay-to-play type rules for its broker-dealer members that closely track the pay-to-play provisions set forth by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Rule 206(4)-5. FINRA, the self-regulatory organization for broker-dealers, announced three specific rule proposals in its notice – Rule 2390, Rule 2271 and Rule 4580.
Proposed Rule 2390, which is clearly modeled on Rule 206(4)-5, would restrict FINRA’s member firms from engaging in distribution or solicitation activities on behalf of registered investment advisers that provide or seek to provide investment advisory services to government entities if “covered employees” of those advisors make a disqualifying political contribution. The proposed rule would not specifically ban or limit the amount of political contributions covered FINRA members or their covered associates could make to government officials, but would instead impose a two-year time out on engaging in distribution or solicitation activities for compensation with a government entity on behalf of an investment adviser when the FINRA member or its covered associates make a disqualifying contribution.
While this type of pay-to-play framework should be familiar to those in the regulated community, what might not be so familiar are the disgorgement of profit provisions contained in proposed Rule 2390. Unlike SEC Rule 206(4)-5, the currently-announced framework of Rule 2390 would obligate covered FINRA members to disgorge any compensation or other remuneration received in association with, pertaining to, or arising out of, distribution or solicitation activities during the two-year time out period caused by a disqualifying contribution. The proposed rule would also prohibit covered FINRA members from entering into arrangements with investment advisers or government entities to recoup any such disgorged compensation at a later time period.
The remaining two proposals set forth in FINRA’s regulatory notice – Rule 2271 and Rule 4580 – deal with disclosure and recordkeeping requirements for broker-dealer members engaged in covered government distribution and solicitation activities. Specifically, proposed Rule 2271 would obligate covered FINRA members engaging in distribution and solicitation activities with a government entity to make specified disclosures to such entity regarding the identity of the investment adviser(s) being represented and the nature of the compensation arrangement associated with the representation. Meanwhile, proposed Rule 4580 would require covered FINRA members engaging in distribution and solicitation activities with a government entity on behalf of any investment adviser to maintain specified records that could be examined by FINRA for compliance with the obligations of proposed Rules 2390 and 2271.
In conjunction with the publication of its current regulatory notice, FINRA has requested public comment from both members and non-members on all aspects of the planned provisions, including “any potential costs and burdens of the proposed rules.” For those interested in participating in the open comment process, December 15 has been set as the current response deadline. Given the likelihood of swift adoption of the proposed rules following that date, broker-dealers subject to the regulatory reach of FINRA should begin updating their compliance programs in short order.
