FINRA Alters Remote Inspection Proposal to Satisfy Critics

Posted on January 3rd, 2023 at 1:02 PM
FINRA Alters Remote Inspection Proposal to Satisfy Critics

From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has amended its proposal to permit financial advisory firms to conduct their internal inspections remotely beyond year-end 2023 to satisfy state regulators and investor advocates.

FINRA’s amendments would require advisory firms to consider additional risk factors when determining whether a location is eligible for remote inspections. For instance, FINRA specifically has asked firms to evaluate a location based on its trading volume, product complexity, and whether its clients are particularly vulnerable. Furthermore, the amendments would mandate financial advisory firms to “make more frequent use of unannounced, on-site inspections” for locations where “red flags” are present or are suspected.

FINRA’s amendments also propose prohibiting remote-inspections eligibility for advisory firms that have registered with FINRA within the past 12 months, as well as for firms that are required to adhere to more stringent compliance measures than the rest of the industry based on past misconduct. Finally, FINRA added a clause to its proposed remote inspection agenda that would allow it to determine that an advisory firm cannot conduct remote inspections of location “in the public interest and for the protection of investors.”

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, regulatory and disciplinary matters.

Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, advisors, law, finra

Return to Archive

TESTIMONIALS

Previous
Next

You are the best attorneys in the country.

CC

LATEST NEWS AND ARTICLES

December 9, 2025
The Vanishing Boundary Between Investing and Gambling

According to Bloomberg Law, there now are the tools, tactics, and a psychology of gambling that increasingly resembles those of retail trading.

December 8, 2025
Former Morgan Stanley Advisor Faces FINRA Action Over Undisclosed Loans from Elderly Client

FINRA filed a complaint against former Morgan Stanley advisor Kirk J. Crossen, alleging that he borrowed $400,000 from an 84-year-old customer experiencing early-stage dementia and concealed the loans from his firm.

December 5, 2025
FINRA Fines Wedbush Securities for Margin-Securities and Disclosure Failures

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ordered Wedbush Securities to pay $150,000 after identifying significant compliance and supervisory failures involving customer margin securities and required bond-pricing disclosures.