Records retention

Question 1

What are the SEC retention requirements?

Answer 1

Corporate or partnership documents of member firms must be kept for the lifetime of the firm.
Contains list of officers, partners, and directors
Active U4 forms must be kept

Question 2

The following records must be kept for 6 years minimum - what is a blotter?

Answer 2

Original entry records of purchases, sales, and recipes and deliveries of cash and securities.

Question 3

The following records must be kept for 6 years minimum - what is Ledgers ?

Answer 3

customer account statements which include settlement dates

Question 4

The following records must be kept for 6 years minimum - what is a General Ledger?

Answer 4

Financial records of the firms assets, liabilities, and net worth

Question 5

The following records must be kept for 6 years minimum - what is a position record?

Answer 5

Records of all securities owned by the firm and their location

Question 6

The following records must be kept for 6 years minimum - what is a Account record

Answer 6

All margin accounts

Question 7

The following records must be kept for 6 years minimum - what is a Closed account

Answer 7

All closed customer accounts

Question 8

What is the timeframe for record accessibility regardless of the specific requirements ?

Answer 8

Records must be easily accessible for at least two years (FINRA and MSRB)

Question 9

Name 6 records that must be kept for at least 6 years

Answer 9

§ U4 forms
§ Trade confirmations
§ Order tickets
§ Advertisements
§ Sales literature
§ Dividends and interest received on every account
§ POAs
§ Speeches / public appearances
§ Compliance procedure manuals
§ Gifts
§ Compensation records of associates

Question 10

Name 3 records that must be kept for 4 years as required by the MSRB

Answer 10

§ Subsidiary ledgers
§ Trades, confirmations, terms and conditions of customer accounts
§ Checkbooks and canceled checks
§ Delivery of financial statements
§ Public communications