If you work for an investment company, you probably don't want to receive a Blue Sheet data request from The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
As the agency responsible for keeping an eye on brokers and dealers, FINRA might send a request for information to anyone involved in the buying and selling of securities. The requests used to be printed on blue paper, but today the questions and responses are all done online through an official Blue Sheet system.
Perhaps FINRA noticed suspicious activity, such as someone using insider information. Or a security experienced an unusually high level of volatility. FINRA might ask for the stock name, price, date of the trade, how many shares were bought or sold, and the names of the buyers and sellers. A firm or individual can be fined big bucks if they ignore the request or provide incomplete information.
So if Mike the broker gets a tip from his brother-in-law that a new cancer drug is going to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration next week, and he tells all his customers to buy the stock immediately...Mike’s firm will probably receive a Blue Sheet request. And possibly some Orange Jumpsuits.
Related or Semi-related Video
Finance: What is FINRA?5 Views
finance a la shmoop what is FINRA? Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
once again for those in the back that's Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority FINRA it's kind of a yoga mantra thing because firms get FINRA'd [Woman meditating with yoga]
every day well FINRA is the private agency that
regulates exchanges and brokerage firms that are members they administer tests
and actually create them you know like these the series exams which we just [Series exams appear]
happen to have shmoop if you've got 70 to 80 spare hours and want to give them
a looksie... think about all the bad PR that sleazy financial wheeler-dealers [Financial dealers discussing matters]
got back in the 1930s before the various acts were enacted you know the 33 34 40
nobody was gonna trust "Wall Street people" unless there was a kind
of Good Housekeeping Seal of fair-and-square dealers who made sure
that the various laws and compliance things were actually upheld..Note,
importantly that it isn't the job of FINRA or well any government body to
recommend buying selling or holding any particular security because you're gonna
make money it's only their job to be sure that the letter of the law is [Letter of law appears]
followed and that that letter is presented in a way so that everyone has
fair access to relevant and similar information it's all about making a fair
and square level playing field for all without that well Manhattan would look a
lot more like Mogadishu than Manhattan [Manhattan skyline appears]
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