SEC Approves FINRA Rule 3290 Overhauling Broker-Dealer Outside Activities
The SEC has approved FINRA's new Rule 3290, replacing existing rules on outside business activities and private securities investments for broker-dealers, with implications for associated persons' conduct and supervision.
On September 15, 2026, the SEC approved new FINRA Rule 3290, replacing FINRA's existing rules on outside business activities (OBAs) and private securities investments. Per reporting from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, the rule modernizes what broker-dealer associated persons may do outside their registration, including ownership interests in private securities and related business ventures.
Why counsel should care: OBAs sit at the intersection of securities regulation, conflicts, and supervisory responsibility. Compliance teams at broker-dealers and advisers must map each associated person's outside holdings, board seats, and affiliations against the rule's categories, disclosure duties, and supervisory requirements, and align books, records, and internal controls. For defense counsel, the rule also shapes the supervisory-theory frame under which oversight gaps may be charged.
What to watch: the credit report's effective date and any phase-in periods, since deadlines for private securities holdings, Form U4 amendments, and supervisory procedures key off them. Also watch for FINRA notices, interpretive guidance, and companion amendments in the approval order.
Caveat: this rests on a single firm alert, which is secondary material; confirm provisions, exemptions, and timelines against the approval order and rule text.