FINRA Email Regulations (NASD 3010 & NASD 3110)
The email regulations which involve FINRA are NASD 3010 and NASD 3011. Here’s a quick overview of each:
NASD 3010
- Procedures and policies put into place to supervise, review and sample registered representatives' electronic communication. Supervisors are required to have the ability to review outgoing email for noncompliant language.
- Documented records are required to show that supervisory procedures are being enforced.
NASD 3110
- All records should be retained in teh same format as SEC Rule 17a-4 (non-rewriteable, non-erasable, and time-stamped), and be retained for at least three years.
It’s important to note that in the first two years of the three-year requirement from NASD 3110, all email and Internet-based messaging need to be easily accessible.
Because of all these rules and regulations, using an outdated method like backup tapes will not work – a proper email archiving and compliance solution is essential for NASD 3010 & NASD 3110 compliance. The best email archiving vendors have solutions in place where archived emails can quickly and efficiently be produced.
Do the research, ask your potential email archiving vendor how their solution is in compliance with FINRA email regulations.
Learning More About Email Regulations
As the years pass by, more and more regulations pertaining to business operations are coming into existence. Federal regulatory authorities want to make sure that companies and corporations are carrying out their daily business operations in the proper manner and institute regulations and laws to mandate. With that said, there are quite a few specific email regulations and laws that are being constantly updated with the ever-changing landscape of electronically-transmitted information.
Email governance regulations have been instituted by authorities such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), to name two of the more prominent names in this regulatory area. Compliance with SEC and FINRA regulations in addition to rules and regulations under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) make compliance with email archiving guidelines imperative.
Proper Storage of Company and Corporation Emails
One of the main requirements under a few different SEC and FINRA regulations is that businesses must maintain proper storage of historical company emails. This involves the act of archiving emails and keeping them indexed in such a way so as to produce them quickly. Email preservation with an email archiving solution can be completed with a SaaS solution or on-premise email archiving service. The regulations outline how companies must store their emails, how long they must keep the emails archived and other pertinent rules.
