Welcome to Complaints, Disputes and Reporting, the unit that covers what happens after a customer complains, what a firm must tell FINRA and when, and how a dispute between a firm, a customer, or a representative gets resolved.
Exam Weight: 1 scored item within Function 4 (3 items / 6% of exam)
What You'll Learn
In this unit, you'll cover:
- Records of Written Customer Complaints: which grievances count as a complaint, who must keep the complaint file, and how long
- Reporting Requirements to FINRA: the events a firm must report, the deadlines that apply, and how a Form U4 or Form U5 filing can excuse a separate report
- FINRA's Investigative Authority and Disciplinary Sanctions: FINRA's power to demand information and testimony, and the sanctions available for a rule violation
- Methods of Formal Dispute Resolution: when a customer or industry dispute must go to arbitration, how many arbitrators hear a case, and how arbitration compares to mediation and litigation
- Form U4 Reporting Requirements: keeping Form U4 current, and the arbitration disclosure a firm must give an associated person who signs it
Why This Matters
A complaint does not end when the customer stops calling. It can trigger a recordkeeping duty, a report to FINRA, an investigation, and eventually arbitration, each with its own clock, and some with a dollar threshold of their own. The exam tests those triggers as separate, gradable facts, not one blended story.
This unit also closes the course by showing what happens when things go wrong: how FINRA investigates, what it can impose, and how a firm, a customer, or a representative resolves a dispute once other options run out.
Let's start with records of written customer complaints.