The amendments expand certain exemptions and provide additional guidance under Rules 5130 and 5131 with respect to equity IPO allocations.

On December 19, 2019, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued Regulatory Notice 19-37 (RN 19-37) to summarize and provide additional context to the changes to FINRA Rule 5130 (Restrictions on the Purchase and Sale of Initial Equity Public Offerings) and FINRA Rule 5131 (New Issue Allocations and Distributions) (together, the Rules) that were approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 5, 2019. The amendments to the Rules became effective on January 1, 2020.