On June 20, 2019, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) proposed amendments to FINRA Rule 2210 (Communications with the Public) and FINRA Rule 2241 (Research Analysts and Research Reports) to further the rules adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) last year as required by the Fair Access to Investment Research Act of 2017 (the “FAIR Act”). The FAIR Act required the SEC to adopt rules to extend safe harbor communication protections to covered investment funds. Consistent with the FAIR Act’s mandate, FINRA’s proposed amendments would (i) eliminate the “quiet period” restrictions on publishing a research report or making a public appearance concerning a covered investment fund and (ii) create a filing exclusion for covered investment fund research reports. Under the proposed FINRA exception, the quiet period requirements would not apply to a research report or a public appearance following any offering of the securities of a covered investment fund that is the subject of a covered investment fund research report. The adoption of the FINRA rule amendments as proposed would align with the SEC’s adopted rules and reduce obstacles that currently prevent investors from accessing certain research reports on investment funds. A copy of the proposed FINRA rule amendments may be found here.

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