The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is leaving its business continuity rule intact after conducting a "Pandemic Review" of the rule.
The broker-dealer self-regulator said in a recent Regulatory Notice 21-44 that based on the review of Rule 4370 (Business Continuity Plans and Emergency Contact Information) and a Pandemic Review of the rule, "both of which involved extensive feedback from a wide range of internal and external stakeholders," FINRA decided to maintain the rule as is.
The BCP Rule Review, as well as the related feedback received during the Pandemic Review, "confirmed the continuing value and effectiveness of Rule 4370 and its flexible, non-prescriptive approach, and so FINRA proposes to maintain the rule without change," FINRA said.
In February 2019, FINRA published Regulatory Notice 19-06, launching a retrospective review of Rule 4370 to assess its effectiveness and efficiency. In March 2020, in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and while the BCP Rule Review was still underway, FINRA published Regulatory Notice 20-08, encouraging each member firm to review its business continuity plan to consider pandemic preparedness and to review its emergency contacts to ensure that FINRA has a reliable means of contacting the firm.
