While many brokers breathed a sigh of relief when FINRA withdrew its proposal requiring members to include a “prominent description of and link to” BrokerCheck on their websites and social media pages, this is probably not the end of this matter.

Many firms complained about the proposal because it presented many administrative nightmares; such as coordinating with all of their social media.  Indeed, FINRA withdrew the proposal due to industry feedback.

Brokers should not think for a moment that FINRA is going to give up on finding a way to promote enhanced access to BrokerCheck.  After all, Dodd-Frank directed the SEC to find ways to make brokers’ backgrounds more accessible to investors.

I think that firms should expect a revised proposal that will give a middle ground.  For example, firms may expect FINRA requiring a link to BrokerCheck on the firm’s web page, but not on social media because social media is too difficult to adequately manage.  Either way, you should be prepared to have to promote BrokerCheck in some form.