In Regulatory Notice 11-33 (July 2011), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) of new FINRA Rule 1230(b)(6) (the “Rule”) to establish registration, examination and continuing education requirements for “Operations Professionals” associated with a broker-dealer.1 While the Rule will affect all FINRA member broker-dealers, its practical effect may be minimal for broker-dealers that are engaged in limited businesses, do not handle customer money or securities or do not have significant back office operations. The Rule will take effect on October 17, 2011, although designation as an Operations Profes-sional is not required until December 16, 2011 and completion of the examination requirement is not required until October 17, 2012. Persons who hold or have held certain registered representative-level (e.g., Series 6 or 7) or principal-level (e.g., Series 24, 26 or 27) registrations may be eligible to register as an Operations Professional without completing the new examination requirement.
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