On April 20, 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) filed a proposal with the SEC seeking to delay the implementation date of new FINRA Rule 2242 (Debt Research Analysts and Debt Research Reports) until July 16, 2016. FINRA Rule 2242 had been scheduled to be implemented on April 22, 2016, following an initial delay by FINRA. The original implementation date for FINRA Rule 2242 was February 22, 2016.

FINRA filed the proposed rule change for immediate effectiveness, and requested that the SEC waive the requirement that the proposal not become operative for 30 days after the date of the filing so that the proposal could become operative before the scheduled effective date of Rule 2242 on April 22, 2016.

FINRA's decision to extend the implementation date for a second time came in response to additional industry questions regarding implementation of the requirements of Rule 2242.

Update: On April 27, 2016, the SEC approved the proposal and waived the requirement that the proposal not become operative for 30 days after the date of the filing.

To learn more about FINRA Rule 2242, see Practice Note, Debt Research and Debt Research Analysts.