The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a change to FINRA Rule 8312 (FINRA BrokerCheck Disclosure) which will reduce the waiting period from 15 days to three business days for the release of certain information reported on the Form U5 (Uniform Termination Notice for Securities Industry Registration) through BrokerCheck. Beginning on December 12, 2015, the 15-day delay in the release of disclosure information filed on Form U5 will be reduced to three business days.
By way of background, most of the information that FINRA releases through BrokerCheck generally is made available the day after it is filed with the CRD system. Rule 8312, however, provides for a 15-day delay in the release of disclosure information filed on Form U5, which firms use to terminate registrations with self-regulatory organizations and the states. The 15-day waiting period was established to give brokers on whose behalf the Form U5 was submitted an opportunity to comment on the disclosure event either through a Form U4, which firms use to register brokers with SROs and the states, or by submitting a broker comment directly to FINRA.
Beginning on December 12, 2015, the 15-day delay in the release of disclosure information filed on Form U5 will be reduced to three business days. FINRA believes that a three business-day waiting period is more reasonable than a 15-day period because it allows investors to more quickly access disclosure information reported on Form U5 while at the same time still providing brokers the opportunity to comment on the reported disclosure event.
For more information on on this topic, see FINRA Regulatory Notice 15-49.