Filing With FINRA Advertising Regulation

What this video covers

• The mandatory sequence of principal pre-approval, then FINRA filing if required, then first use, and why approval always precedes filing
• The default 10-business-day post-use filing window for most retail communications and what "within 10 business days of first use" actually means
• The two special categories that flip to pre-use filing: self-created performance rankings and security futures, and the critical wording "at least 10 business days before first use"
• The one-year pre-filing probation for new FINRA member firms: broader scope covering all retail communications in electronic or public media, and why the clock starts from FINRA membership effectiveness not Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration
• Excluded communications that are never filed: institutional communications, correspondence (25 or fewer retail investors in 30 days), tombstone ads, generic ads, and press releases, plus how firm control of the channel can destroy the exclusion
• Why investment company advertisements published as prospectuses still require FINRA filing despite the general SEC prospectus exclusion
• FINRA's spot check authority: the right to demand review of any communication at any time, even correspondence and institutional communications that are never mandatorily filed