Nov 24, 2009
FINRA weighs in on SMM
According to AdvisorTweets, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) says the delay is needed to reconcile comments from their membership.
As reported in DBJ Associates, the industry is taking a closer look at social media as sales literature because advisors and investors want to have a hand choosing the communications forms they prefer. “The cost of not communicating to advisors and clients through their preferred vehicles (social media) does not make a lot of long-term business sense.” Mr. Johnston said recently.
You can download your copies of Proposed New FINRA rules and Comment on Notice here.
Mutual fund marketers want to use social media
FINRA has no intention of addressing the social media question directly. In fact, the term “social media” appears nowhere in both the text of the new rule, nor Regulatory Notice 09-55, the comment notice.
The notice invites interested readers to call Joseph P. Savage, Vice President and Counsel, Investment Companies Regulation, at (240) 386-4534; or Thomas A. Pappas, Vice President and Director, Advertising Regulation, at (240) 386-4553 and state opinions.
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[...] November 9, 2009 • 11:06 pm 0 [...]
John,
The sooner FINRA clears up the confusion, the better. Too bad they postponed their webinar.
Yes. One area of opportunity for money management story tellers may be the increased focus in the 25 person or less correspondence category.
One RIA client of ours is perfectly happy reaching out to 15 people or less with investable assets of $1 million and up. Not having to file correspondence (if I read the proposed rule correctly) may be a good reason to target and communicate to smaller and more specialized classes of prospective investors.