On June 15, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed amendments to the broker-dealer financial reporting rule in order to strengthen the audits of broker-dealers as well as the SEC's oversight of the way broker-dealers handle their customers' securities and cash.

The first set of amendments relates to the requirement that a broker-dealer file annual financial reports with the SEC, and is designed to, among other things: (1) update the existing requirements of Rule 17a-5; (2) facilitate the ability of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to implement oversight of independent public accountants of broker-dealers as required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; and (3) eliminate potentially redundant requirements for certain broker-dealers affiliated with, or dually registered as, investment advisers.