Effective April 2, 2014, FINRA has updated its Regulatory Extension (REX) system for allowing firms to submit extension of time requests under the Customer Protection rule. The rule requires firms to obtain physical possession or control of securities that are in a short position for more than 30 days in either the dealer’s account or a customer account. Note that the firm is not required to buy-in the security – they may borrow the security instead.
Firms should submit for a time extension request either the first or second business day after the 30 day period has passed. In order to submit a time extension request, the firm must have an active user ID and password to access the online REX system. Additional details about what information is required in the time extension request may be found here.
Source: Regulatory Notice 14-13: Extension of Time Requests Relating to New SEA Rule 15c3-3(d)(4)
This alert applies to the Series 7, Series 24, Series 26, and Series 99.