The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has given the Securities and Exchange Commission until Feb. 12 to approve — or not — its plan to increase the value limit on gifts by a registered person to $300 from $100 per recipient per year.
FINRA filed the extension on Dec. 2.
FINRA filed in late September an amended rule change with the SEC to increase the value limit on gifts by a registered person.
The broker-dealer self-regulator said in June that it would raise the limit to $250, but was swayed by industry feedback.
On Dec. 2, FINRA said that it still supports its proposal of a $300 gift limit, which should account for future inflation for approximately 10 years, despite calls from the Financial Services Institute and Robinhood to boost the limit to $500.
"FINRA continues to believe that a $300 gift limit is appropriate — it will facilitate compliance while protecting investors from improprieties, such as conflicts of interest, that may arise when a member or an associated person gives items of value to an employee of another person, such as an institutional customer, vendor or counterparty ('Institutional Customer') with the hope of strengthening the business relationship with the Institutional Customer," the regulator said.
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