FINRA Plans To Up Annual Gift Limit to $175

FINRA has proposed to increase the amount a registered representative can spend on an individual’s gift or gratuity per year from $100 to $175. The increase in the gift limit is said to accommodate inflation.

Other proposed rule changes include;

• Including a de minimis threshold on gifts received. Meaning, records would not need to be kept on gifts received under a certain amount.
• Amend the non-cash compensation rules to cover all securities products, rather than only direct participation programs (DPPs), variable insurance contracts, investment company securities and public offerings of securities.
• Changes to internal sales contests for non-cash compensation.
  • Non-cash compensation must be based on total production with respect to all securities products.
  • Not be based on conditions which encourages members to recommend particular securities

For full disclosure on the proposed changes, read the official release statement here

MyComplianceOffice allows firms to automate the Gift and Entertainment program with effective monitoring and reporting. You can easily configure the rules to allow the automatic approval of gifts and entertainment within your policy and procedures. Similarly, the MCO solution can automatically deny a gift or entertainment that breaches policy or escalate any gift and entertainment request that requires investigation. Contact us to find out more.

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