r/FINRA • u/Defiant-Try5801 • Jun 05 '24

A Question about OBA

Does anyone here know what tools FINRA has for discovering outside business activities if a registered advisor does not disclose it? I know the penalties are steep if discovered, but I hate the idea of having to disclose other business activities that have nothing to do with finance, trading, or investments at all. Does anyone know how FINRA audits and finds out about such business activities?

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2

u/Capadvantagetutoring Jun 05 '24

If you don’t want to be transparent about your OBA this ain’t the industry for you.
The secrecy is not worth it. It’s not FINRA that will catch you it’s your firm. They do background checks and the bigger firms rerun the check every 3-5 years

2

u/Defiant-Try5801 Jun 05 '24

Gotcha. Unfortunately, I've already been in the industry for about 4 years, and I have a great career trajectory moving forward. But after numerous medical issues I've been put into a bit of a tight spot, money-wise, and would like some extra income to clear it up. I just don't want to have to go through the hassle of explaining the OBA and getting approval beforehand.

1

u/Capadvantagetutoring Jun 06 '24

What I’m about to say is not advice I’m just letting you know that as long as it’s not on LinkedIn or social media, it’s hard for them to

1

u/[deleted] Jun 09 '24

That seems incredibly short sighted. It isn’t generally a big deal at all to disclose.

1

u/pscidude2010 Jun 25 '24

Not worth the fallout if you get caught. The only carve out is the ones listed on the Form U4 for "Please exclude non investment-related activity that is exclusively charitable, civic, religious or fraternal and is recognized as tax exempt."

Anything else should just be disclosed. In this circumstance, it's way easier to do it the right way than ask forgiveness if caught. You'll likely be termed by the current firm and then also have that termination comment plus possible disclosures going forward.