In the area of regulatory sweeps, Cook said Finra “already announced some sweeps that we started last year and are going to continue this year, including around influencers, options, account openings and SPACs (special purpose acquisition companies designed to take companies public without going through the traditional IPO process).”
Finra’s influencer concerns center on how member firms engage with influencers on social media to promote their products. A focus will be how firms make sure they’re complying with the rules around supervision, advertising and communication with the public, he said.
Each of the sweeps will continue this year but also may lead to additional rulemaking and examination priorities, Cook added.
“We do expect to come forward in the coming months with potential updates on our rules on options accounts. ... We’ll also be following up with a number of retrospective rule reviews we’ve got underway. We’ve got one on borrowing and lending from customers and one on liquidity risk practices,” Cook said.
Finra is also tracking the SEC’s notice on digital engagement practices. “We’re looking forward to seeing where they might go in this space and then we will adapt our rules accordingly,” he said.
While Cook provided a laundry list of Finra’s 2022 regulatory and exam priorities, the official report on priorities is expected to be published in the next month, the CEO added.