FINRA Proposed Research Registration & Conflicts of Interest Rules

SIFMA provides comments to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on proposed research registration and conflicts of interest rules, FINRA Regulatory Notice 08-55. FINRA Regulatory Notice 08-55 would establish new FINRA Rule 1223 (Registration of Research Analysts) and FINRA Rule 2240 (Research Analysts and Research Reports). SIFMA supports the efforts of these rules, but recommends some modifications. The recommendations address provisions including: (1) identifying and managing conflicts of interest; (2) analyst compensation; (3) information barriers; and (4) anti-retaliation against research analysts.