Filing Requirements and Review Procedures
Within 10 business days of their first use, retail communications must be filed with FINRA’s Advertising Regulation Department:
•If their subject relates in any way to registered investment companies. An investment company is one that pools investors’ money (into a mutual fund, a closed-end fund, a variable annuity, or a face-amount certificate, for example) and trades that money on their behalf.
•If they involve direct participation programs or government securities
•If they concern collateralized mortgage obligations
•If they concern an investment tool
•If they are draft versions or “story boards” of a television or video retail communication that have been filed pursuant to a filing requirement, then the member also must file the final filmed version within 10 business days of first use or broadcast
•If they are free writing prospectuses that have been filed with the SEC
Some retail communications demand more stringent oversight, requiring that they be filed 10 business days prior to their first application and withheld from publication until receiving FINRA approval. These are:
•Investment company retail communications that include performance rankings or comparisons with other investment companies when the ranking is not generally published or created by the firm
•Retail communications concerning securities futures or options
•Any retail communication from a FINRA member firm in its first year of operation (as measured from the date its FINRA membership became effective)
All filings to FINRA must include the actual or anticipated date of first use, the name, and title of the principal who approved the retail communication, and the date that the approval was given.
In addition, new member firms, those that have been registered with FINRA for less than one year, must file their retail communications at least 10 business days prior to use. This rule a