The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is reminding member firms of the importance of paying their renewal fees on a timely basis.
FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 22-22, noting that its Renewal Program “supports the collection and disbursement of fees related to the renewal of broker-dealer (BD) and investment adviser (IA) registrations, exempt reporting and notice filings with participating self-regulatory organizations (SRO) and jurisdictions.”
Firms are notified about all applicable renewal fees they owe through a preliminary statement in November. A final statement in January will confirm or reconcile the actual renewal fees that they owe after Jan. 1, 2023.
In last week’s regulatory notice, FINRA said that it is critical for firms to make sure they pay in full by the preliminary statement deadline, which is Dec. 12. Payments received after the deadline are subject to a late fee. If payment is late, firms are asked to ensure that the statement is paid in full before the year-end system shutdown. If FINRA does not receive payment by Dec. 22, firms risk becoming ineligible to do business in the jurisdictions where their registrations are not renewed. Firms have until Jan. 27 to report any discrepancies on their final statement and corresponding renewal reports.
Beginning Oct. 17, firms were allowed to begin submitting post-dated Form U5 and Form BR filings permitting them to indicate they are terminating a registration by the end of the year. This allows them to avoid paying fees on registrations they do not plan to maintain in 2023.
This year’s preliminary statements reflect fee changes approved last year by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
FINRA provided a complete list of annual renewal program fees with specific information about its registration, examination and filing fees.
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