Securities Lawyer's Deskbook                          published by The University of Cincinnati College of Law

Rule 17h-1T -- Risk Assessment Recordkeeping Requirements for Associated Persons of Brokers and Dealers

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1. Requirement to maintain and preserve information.

   1. Every broker or dealer registered with the Commission pursuant to Section 15 of the Act, and every municipal securities dealer registered pursuant to Section 15B of the Act for which the Commission is the appropriate regulatory agency, unless exempt pursuant to paragraph (d) of this section, shall maintain and preserve the following information:
      
      
      1. An organizational chart which includes the broker or dealer and all its associated persons. Included in the organizational chart shall be a designation of which associated persons are Material Associated Persons as that term is used in paragraph (a)(2) of this section;
         
         
      2. Written policies, procedures, or systems concerning the broker or dealer's:
         
         
         1. Method(s) for monitoring and controlling financial and operational risks to it resulting from the activities of any of its associated persons, other than a natural person;
            
            
         2. Financing and capital adequacy, including information regarding sources of funding, together with a narrative discussion by management of the liquidity of the material assets, the structure of debt capital, and sources of alternative funding; and
            
            
         3. Trading positions and risks, such as records regarding reporting responsibilities for trading activities, policies relating to restrictions or limitations on trading securities and financial instruments or products, and a description of the types of reviews conducted to monitor existing positions, and limitations or restrictions on trading activities.
            
            
      3. A description of all material pending legal or arbitration proceedings involving a Material Associated Person or the broker or dealer that are required to be disclosed by the ultimate holding company under generally accepted accounting principles on a consolidated basis;
         
         
      4. Consolidated and consolidating balance sheets, prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, which may be unaudited and which shall include the notes to the financial statements, as of quarter end for the broker or dealer and its ultimate holding company;
         
         
      5. Quarterly consolidated and consolidating income statements and consolidated cash flow statements, prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, which may be unaudited and which shall include the notes to the financial statements, for the broker or dealer and its ultimate holding company;
         
         
      6. The amount as of quarter end, and at month end if greater than quarter end, of the aggregate long and short securities and commodities positions held by each Material Associated Person, including a separate listing of each single unhedged securities or commodities position, other than U.S. government or agency securities, that exceeds the Materiality Threshold at any month end;
         
         
      7. The notional or contractual amounts, and in the case of options, the value of the underlying instruments, as of quarter end, of financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk and financial instruments with concentrations of credit risk (as those terms are used in Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 105) where the Material Associated Person operates a trading book, with a separate entry of each commitment where the credit risk (as that term is used in Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 105) with respect to a counterparty exceeds the Materiality Threshold at quarter end;
         
         
      8. The aggregate amount as of quarter end, and the amount at month end if greater than quarter end, of all bridge loans and those other material unsecured extensions of credit (not including intra-group receivables) with an initial or remaining maturity of less than one year by each Material Associated Person, together with the allowance for losses for such transactions, including a specific description of any extensions of credit to a single borrower exceeding the Materiality Threshold at any month end;
         
         
      9. The aggregate amount as of quarter end, and the amount at month end if greater than quarter end, of commercial paper, secured and other unsecured borrowing, bank loans, lines of credit, or any other borrowings, and the principal installments of long-term or medium-term debt, scheduled to mature within twelve months from the most recent fiscal quarter for the broker or dealer and each Material Associated Person; and
         
         
      10. Data relating to real estate activities, including mortgage loans and investments in real estate, but not including trading positions in whole loans, conducted by each Material Associated Person, including:
          
          
          1. Real estate loans and investments by type of property, such as construction and development, residential, commercial and industrial or farmland;
             
             
          2. The geographic distribution, as of quarter end, by type of loan or investment where the amount exceeds the Materiality Threshold at quarter end;
             
             
          3. The aggregate carrying value of loans which each Material Associated Person deems to be not current as to interest or principal, together with the Material Associated Person's criteria for the determination of which loans are not current, or which are in the process of foreclosure or that have been restructured;
             
             
          4. The allowance for losses on loans and on investment real estate by type of loan or investment, and the activity in the allowance for losses account; and
             
             
          5. Information about risk concentration in the real estate investment and loan portfolio, including information about risk concentration to a single borrower or location of property if the risk concentration exceeds the Materiality Threshold at quarter end.
             
             
   2. The determination of whether an associated person of a broker or dealer is a Material Associated Person shall involve consideration of all aspects of the activities of, and the relationship between, both entities, including without limitation, the following factors:
      
      
      
      
      1. The legal relationship between the broker or dealer and the associated person;
         
         
      2. The overall financing requirements of the broker or dealer and the associated person, and the degree, if any, to which the broker or dealer and the associated person are financially dependent on each other;
         
         
      3. The degree, if any, to which the broker or dealer or its customers rely on the associated person for operational support or services in connection with the broker's or dealer's business;
         
         
      4. The level of risk present in the activities of the broker's or dealer's associated persons; and
         
         
      5. The extent to which the associated person has the authority or the ability to cause a withdrawal of capital from the broker or dealer.
         
         
   3. The information, reports and records required by the provisions of this section shall be maintained and preserved in accordance with the provisions of Rule 17a-4 and shall be kept for a period of not less than three years in an easily accessible place.
      
      
   4. For the purposes of this section and Rule 17h-2T, the term "Materiality Threshold" shall mean the greater of:
      
      
      1. $100 million; or
         
         
      2. 10 percent of the broker or dealer's tentative net capital based on the most recently filed Form X-17A-5 or 10 percent of the Material Associated Person's tangible net worth, whichever is greater.
         
         
2. Special Provisions With Respect to Material Associated Persons Subject to the Supervision of Certain Domestic Regulators. A broker or dealer shall be deemed to be in compliance with the recordkeeping requirements of paragraph (a) of this section with respect to a Material Associated Person if:
   
   
   1. Such Material Associated Person is subject to examination by, or the reporting requirements of, a Federal banking agency and the broker or dealer maintains in accordance with the provisions of this section copies of all reports submitted by such Material Associated Person with the Federal banking agency pursuant to Section 5211 of the Revised Statutes, Section 9 of the Federal Reserve Act, Section 7(a) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, Section 10(b) of the Home Owners' Loan Act, or Section 5 of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 other than the Form FR 2068; or
      
      
   2. If such Material Associated Person is subject to the supervision of an insurance commissioner or other similar official or agency of a state, and the broker or dealer maintains in accordance with the provisions of this section copies of the Annual and Quarterly Statements with Schedules and Exhibits prepared by the insurance company on forms prescribed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners; or
      
      
   3. In the event an insurance company is not required to prepare Quarterly Statements on forms prescribed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the broker or dealer must maintain and preserve the records required by paragraph (a) of this section on a quarterly basis; or
      
      
   4. In the case of a Material Associated Person that is subject to the supervision of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the broker or dealer maintains in accordance with the provisions of this section copies of the reports filed on Forms 1 FR-FCM or 1 FR-IB by such Material Associated Person with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
      
      
3. Special Provisions With Respect to Material Associated Persons Subject to the Supervision of a Foreign Financial Regulatory Authority. A broker or dealer shall be deemed to be in compliance with the recordkeeping requirements of paragraph (a) of this section with respect to a Material Associated Person if such broker or dealer maintains in accordance with the provisions of this section copies of the reports filed by such Material Associated Persons with a Foreign Financial Regulatory Authority. The broker or dealer shall maintain a copy of the original report and a copy translated into the English language. For the purposes of this section, the term Foreign Financial Regulatory Authority shall have the meaning set forth in Section 3(a)(51) of the Act.
   
   
4. Exemptions.
   
   

   1. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any broker or dealer which is exempt from the provisions of Rule 15c3-3:
      
      
      1. Pursuant to paragraph (k)(1) of Rule 15c3-3; or
         
         
      2. Pursuant to paragraph (k)(2) of Rule 15c3-3; or
         
         
      3. If the broker or dealer does not qualify for an exemption from the provisions of Rule 15c3-3 and such broker or dealer does not hold funds or securities for, or owe money or securities to, customers and does not carry the accounts of or for customers; unless
         
         
      4. In the case of paragraphs (d)(1)(ii) or (d)(1)(iii) of this section, the broker or dealer maintains capital including debt subordinated in accordance with Appendix D of Rule 15c3-1 equal to or greater than $20,000,000.
         
         
   2. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any broker or dealer which maintains capital including debt subordinated in accordance with Appendix D of Rule 15c3-1 of less than $250,000, even if the broker or dealer hold funds or securities for, or owes money or securities to, customers or carries the accounts of or for customers.
      
      
   3. In calculating capital for the purposes of this paragraph, a broker or dealer shall include the equity capital and subordinated debt of any other registered brokers or dealers that are associated with the broker or dealer and are not otherwise exempt from the provisions pursuant to paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this section.
      
      
   4. The provisions of this section shall not apply to a broker or dealer that computes certain of its capital charges in accordance with Rule 15c3-1e if that broker or dealer is affiliated with an ultimate holding company that is not an ultimate holding company that has a principal regulator, as defined in Rule 15c3-1(c)(13).
      
   5. The provisions of this Rule shall not apply to a broker or dealer affiliated with a supervised investment bank holding company defined in Rule 17i-1(a).
      
      
   6. The Commission may, upon written application by a Reporting Broker or Dealer, exempt from the provisions of this section, either unconditionally or on specified terms and conditions, any brokers or dealers associated with such Reporting Broker or Dealer. The term "Reporting Broker or Dealer" shall mean, in the case of a broker or dealer that is associated with other registered brokers or dealers, the broker or dealer which maintains the greatest amount of net capital as reported on its most recently fixed Form X-17A-5. In granting exemptions under this section, the Commission shall consider, among other factors, whether the records and other information required to be maintained pursuant to this section concerning the Material Associated Persons of the broker or dealer associated with the Reporting Broker or Dealer will be available to the Commission pursuant to Rule 17h-2T.
      
      
5. Location of Records. A broker or dealer required to maintain records concerning a Material Associated Person pursuant to this section may maintain those records either at the Material Associated Person or at a records storage facility provided that the records are located within the boundaries of the United States and the records are kept in an easily accessible place, as that term is used in Rule 17a-4. In order to operate pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph, the Material Associated Person or other entity maintaining the records shall file with the Commission a written undertaking in form acceptable to the Commission, signed by a duly authorized person, to the effect that the records will be treated as if the broker or dealer was maintaining the records pursuant to this section and that the entity maintaining the records undertakes to permit examination of such records at any time or from time to time during business hours by representatives or designees of the Commission and to promptly furnish the Commission or its designee true, correct, complete and current hard copy of any or all or any part of such records. The election to operate pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph shall not relieve the broker or dealer required to maintain and preserve such records from any of its responsibilities under this section or Rule 17h-2T.
   
   
6. Confidentiality. All information obtained by the Commission pursuant to the provisions of this section from a broker or dealer concerning a Material Associated Person shall be deemed confidential information for the purposes of Section 24(b) of the Act.
   
   
7. Temporary implementation schedule. Every broker or dealer subject to the requirements of this section shall maintain and preserve the information required by paragraphs (a)(1)(i), (ii), and (iii) of this section commencing September 30, 1992. Commencing December 31, 1992, the provisions of this section shall apply in their entirety.

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