FINRA Board OKs Longer Arb Response Time
The board also approved Regulatory Notices seeking comment on expanded trade reporting and margin requirements.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s board approved at its September meeting proposed amendments to lengthen the time for non-parties to object in arbitration as well as publishing a Regulatory Notice seeking comment on planned amendments to expand the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine.
The arbitration measure will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The proposed arbitration changes would extend the response time for non-parties to object to an order or subpoena from 10 calendar days of service to 15 calendar days of receipt of the order or subpoena. First-class mail would be excluded as an option to serve documents on the non-party and as an option for the non-party to file the objection to the scope or propriety of the order or subpoena.
The proposed rule change “would address arbitration forum users’ concern that non-parties wanting to object to an order or subpoena have insufficient time to do so,” FINRA states.
The upcoming Regulatory Notice would seek comment on proposed amendments to expand TRACE rules to include transactions in U.S. dollar-denominated foreign sovereign debt securities.
Under the proposal, trades in foreign sovereign debt securities would be subject to same-day reporting and would not be disseminated publicly.
“Issuance in these securities has accelerated in recent years and FINRA believes the proposal would provide important regulatory information on an increasingly active segment of the market,” FINRA stated.
FINRA’s board also approved publishing a Regulatory Notice seeking comment on amendments to margin requirements that would clarify and incorporate into the rule current interpretations regarding “when issued” and other extended settlement transactions, and would provide relief to facilitate the practical application of the rule to extended settlement transactions.