FINRA Requests Comment on Equity and Debt Research Rules

FINRA seeks comment on proposed amendments to FINRA Rule 2241 (Research Analysts and Research Reports) and FINRA Rule 2242 (Debt Research Analysts and Debt Research Reports) to create a limited safe harbor for specified brief, written analysis distributed to eligible institutional investors that comes from sales and trading or principal trading personnel but that may rise to the level of a research report (desk commentary).

The proposed safe harbor would be subject to conditions, including compliance with a number of the Rule 2241 or Rule 2242 provisions to mitigate research-related conflicts. In addition, the proposed safe harbor would require firms to include a “health warning” on desk commentary and to obtain negative consent from eligible institutional investors to receive such commentary.