The scheduling of OSJ, branch, and non-branch audits has become more complex over the past year. With the introduction of FINRA’s Remote Inspection Pilot Program and Residential Supervisory Locations, along with state-specific branch and non-branch registration and audit requirements, the complexity in tracking firms’ audit cycles is at an all-time high. For example, OSJ’s must be audited annually (along with branches that supervise non-branch locations), and other branches must be audited every three years. Supervisory offices from a person’s private residence are considered non-branch locations and can be subject to a different cycle, but certain states’ rules override these rules regarding audit frequency.
This complexity creates scheduling challenges for firms that have a variety of location types, and even more so for firms that are participants in the Remote Inspection Pilot Program, who can audit either remotely or onsite. The scheduling challenge only gets more difficult based on other considerations such as a rep’s disciplinary status, heightened supervision, other red flags and risk factors, the desire to inspect large producers or new reps more frequently, and any number of firm-specific factors, all of which RegEd’s Audit Management solution can help alleviate. RegEd’s Branch Audit Management solution allows broker/dealers to efficiently plan, schedule, conduct, resolve, and report on branch and non-branch inspections in accordance with FINRA Rule 3110 and other regulatory guidelines.
One of the most popular tools within RegEd’s solution is the Cycle Management solution. This self-service tool allows individuals responsible for preparing the firm’s audit schedule to create rules which are applied to the firm’s locations to generate the timeframes in which each location must be audited. Rules can be created to define the audit frequency, using factors such as the location type, state-specific rules, firm-specific policies and procedures, and more. There are many additional options for managing inspection cycles, with users able to leverage the branch creation date, the last audit date, and any number of other branch-defined metadata points maintained within the RegEd system to create and manage inspection cycles on an ongoing basis. And with self-service tools, firms can make updates whenever necessary to incorporate new firm policies or regulations.
With RegEd’s advanced reporting capabilities, firms can then report on branch audit completion statuses, deficiencies and significant findings across all locations or a location sub-set based on preferences, including ones related to the audit cycles. This includes but is not limited to the location classification, remote or onsite, announced or unannounced, state located, inspection module utilized, branch examiner, and more.
To learn more about this tool and our Branch Audit Management solution, click here. If you are an existing client and would like to discuss this solution, please contact your customer support specialist. For new clients, please follow this link to schedule a consultative demo.
About RegEd
RegEd is the market-leading provider of RegTech enterprise solutions with relationships with more than 200 enterprise clients, including 80% of the top 25 financial services firms.
Established in 2000 by former regulators, the company is recognized for continuous regulatory technology innovation with solutions hallmarked by workflow-directed processes, data integration, regulatory intelligence, automated validations, business process automation and compliance dashboards. The aggregate drives the highest levels of operational efficiency and enables our clients to cost-effectively comply with regulations and continuously mitigate risk.
Trusted by the nation’s top financial services firms, RegEd’s proven, holistic approach to RegTech meets firms where they are on the compliance and risk management continuum, scaling as their needs evolve and amplifying the value proposition delivered to clients. For more information, please visit www.reged.com.