FINRA approved new rules to require member firms to verify the accuracy of information provided on a prospective applicant’s Form U4.  See http://www.finra.org/Newsroom/NewsReleases/2014/P493588.

The new FINRA rules will now force firms to adopt new written procedures to verify information from public sources of available criminal, bankruptcy, and litigation records.   FINRA also stated that it will review public financial records on its own for all registered representatives that were not fingerprinted during the last 5 years.  To determine if member firms are following these new rules, FINRA plans regular reviews.

In short, member firms better begin their work soon to have processes in place to conduct background checks.  Further, there are a number of options at their disposal to accomplish these tasks.  If member firms do not follow these new dictates, FINRA will assuredly seek sanctions against them.