Quick Answer
Retail communications file with FINRA's Advertising Regulation Department: most within 10 business days of first use (post-use); a small set (investment-company communications with self-created rankings, security futures) at least 10 business days before first use (pre-use). New member firms must pre-file retail communications in electronic/public media for one year from membership. Institutional communications and correspondence are never filed.
Filing is independent of principal approval. A retail communication needs principal pre-approval first, then filing with FINRA if the content category requires filing, then first use. The 10-business-day windows are the most-tested numbers in the entire rule.
Filing Triggers at a Glance
| Category | Filing Required? | Window |
|---|---|---|
| Institutional communication | No | Never filed |
| Correspondence | No | Never filed |
| Retail (most investment company) | Yes, post-use | Within 10 business days of first use |
| Retail (investment company with self-created rankings) | Yes, pre-use | At least 10 business days before first use |
| Retail (bond fund volatility ratings) | Yes, post-use | Within 10 business days of first use |
| Retail (security futures) | Yes, pre-use | At least 10 business days before first use |
| Retail (CMO communications) | Yes, post-use | Within 10 business days of first use |
| Retail (security derived from or based on a single security, a basket, an index, a commodity, a debt issuance, or a foreign currency) | Yes, post-use | Within 10 business days of first use |
| Retail (DPP, GSE, certain other categories) | Yes, post-use | Within 10 business days of first use |
| Templates of investment-analysis-tool reports with projections | Access on request only | Not mandatory pre-filing |
| Excluded retail (tombstones, generic ads, press releases) | No | Excluded category |
For filing, "registered investment company" in this rule includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, variable insurance products (such as variable annuities), closed-end funds, and unit investment trusts. A variable annuity communication follows the same post-use default, and the same pre-use rule if it carries a self-created performance ranking.
Think of it this way: The default for most filed retail content is 10 business days post-use. Two flavors flip to pre-use: self-created performance rankings and security futures. Bond fund volatility ratings stay on the post-use window, despite their extra content rules.
Exam Tip: Gotchas
- An established firm's mutual fund ad generally files within 10 business days after first use. A self-created performance ranking changes the deadline to at least 10 business days before first use. Both clocks use business days, not calendar days; filing exclusions still apply.
- Filing is independent of approval. A piece can require both pre-use principal approval and pre-use FINRA filing. The principal approval must come first; the filing follows.
New Member Firms: One-Year Pre-Filing Rule
For one year beginning on the date a firm's FINRA membership becomes effective, the firm must pre-file every retail communication used in electronic or public media at least 10 business days before first use or publication. The firm may not use the communication until any changes specified by FINRA have been made.
The new-member rule is broader in scope than the established-firm rule, not narrower in window:
- Same 10-business-day window as established-firm pre-filings
- Broader scope: applies to any retail communication in electronic or public media, not only the special pre-use categories (rankings, security futures)
- Lasts one year from membership effectiveness
After the first year, the firm reverts to the standard rule (most retail communications filed post-use, special categories pre-use).
Exam Tip: Gotchas
- The new-member rule applies to retail communications in electronic or public media. A retail brochure mailed to fewer than 26 investors is correspondence, not retail, and is not filed regardless of new-member status. The classification rule still gates filing.
- The new-member clock runs from FINRA membership effectiveness, not from incorporation or SEC registration. A firm that is SEC-registered for years but new to FINRA still triggers the one-year rule on FINRA-membership date.
Excluded From Filing
The filing-exclusion list covers communications that are never filed, regardless of category or content:
- Institutional communications: never filed (recipient-restricted)
- Correspondence: never filed (audience too small)
- Prospectuses and registration statements separately filed with the SEC (registration statements, preliminary prospectuses); but not an investment-company advertisement published as a prospectus, which is not covered by this exclusion and must still be filed with FINRA
- Tombstone-style advertisements that meet the Securities Act tombstone-ad standard (factual offering details only, no sales language)
- Generic financial-industry promotion advertising (for example, "Why hire a financial advisor")
- Press releases made available only to members of the media
- Communications that only identify the firm, an associated person, contact information, or product types (without recommendation or promotion)
These exclusions track the rationale that the SEC, prospectus rules, or other content frameworks already supervise the material, or that the content is too generic to require advertising-regulation review.
Exam Tip: Gotchas
- An investment-company advertisement published as a prospectus MUST be filed with FINRA, even though it is also filed with the SEC. The prospectus-filed-with-the-SEC exclusion does not reach these fund advertisements. The exam will describe such an ad and ask whether FINRA filing is required; the answer is yes.
- The ordinary press-release exclusion requires media-only availability. A public website copy does not qualify for that exclusion. Classify it by audience, then assess filing categories and any other exclusions. Control over republication alone is not the test.
Spot-Check Authority
Even communications not subject to mandatory filing remain subject to FINRA's spot-check program. FINRA may require a firm to submit specific communications for review at any time, with a written request specifying the date range and content type.
A firm that produces extensive correspondence or institutional communications is not free of FINRA scrutiny just because nothing was pre-filed. The spot-check authority is the catch-all that lets FINRA review whatever it suspects is non-compliant.
Exam Tip: Gotchas
- No mandatory filing does not mean no FINRA review. Spot-check authority extends to every communication subject to the FINRA framework, including correspondence and institutional. The exam will sometimes ask whether FINRA can review a piece that was never filed. The answer is yes, via the spot-check program.
Where the 10-Business-Day Window Is Measured
The business day count excludes weekends and FINRA-observed holidays. For standard pre-use filings, at least 10 business days must separate filing and first use, unless FINRA permits a shorter period. Any required changes must also be made before use. For post-use filings, the 10 business days run from the date of first use, not from the date of approval or production.
A firm that files pre-use and uses early violates the pre-use filing requirement. A firm that files post-use late violates the post-use filing requirement. Both are common reportable items in FINRA examinations.
Exam Tip: Gotchas
- Pre-use means "at least 10 business days before"; post-use means "within 10 business days of first use". Read the question stem carefully.
- A Friday first-use date with a filing on the following Monday is 3 calendar days but 1 business day, well within the post-use window. A Friday filing before a Monday first use is 3 calendar days but only 1 business day, far short of the pre-use window.
What Should You Check on Exam Day?
- Can you state which retail categories file pre-use, at least 10 business days before first use: self-created performance rankings and security futures?
- Do you know most retail communications file post-use, within 10 business days of first use, while institutional communications and correspondence are never filed?
- Can you state the new-member rule: pre-file retail electronic or public media communications for one year from membership effectiveness?
- Do you know FINRA's spot-check authority lets it demand review of any communication, including correspondence and institutional, even without mandatory filing?