Selected FINRA notices and disciplinary actions, June‐August 2012

The purpose of this paper is to provide selected Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Regulatory Notices and Disciplinary Actions issued in June, July, and August 2012.

The paper provides FINRA Regulatory Notice 12‐29, Communications with the Public, and Notice 12‐38, Short Interest Reporting.

Notice 12‐29: the SEC has approved FINRA's proposed rule changes to adopt a new set of communication rules that become effective February 4, 2013. They address communications in three categories: institutional communication, retail communication, and correspondence. Among other things, the rules cover approval, review and recordkeeping requirements; content standards; and guidelines for public appearances. Notice 12‐38: the SEC approved amendments to FINRA Rule 4560 to codify the requirement that member firms report only “gross” short interest existing in each proprietary and customer account (rather than net positions across accounts) and clarify that member firms' short interest reports must reflect only those short interest positions that settled.

These FINRA notices are selected to provide a useful indication of regulatory trends.