FINRA Proposes Remote Inspection Pilot Program

FINRA recently proposed amendments to FINRA Rule 3110 (Supervision) to adopt a voluntary, three-year pilot program (Pilot Program) to allow member firms to conduct remote branch office inspections.  In a nod to where things have headed since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic (WFH and such), providing firms with the option to forego on-site exams comes as no surprise (although it is refreshing to see a regulator take pragmatic steps like this). After all, FINRA itself has been in a remote examination posture since the beginning of the pandemic, and firms have been similarly conducting remote branch inspections via temporary relief granted via FINRA Rule 3110.17.

Here are the key points we've extracted from the proposal: