Table of Contents
SERIES 24 | FINANCIAL REGULATION COURSES
FINRA Rule 9266 governs the post-hearing briefing process in FINRA disciplinary proceedings — the phase that follows the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing and precedes the Hearing Panel's issuance of its written decision.
The rule establishes that the Hearing Officer has discretion to order parties to file proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, post-hearing briefs, or both; requires that all factual statements in post-hearing submissions be supported by specific references to the record; limits the total post-hearing briefing period to sixty days after the conclusion of the hearing unless good cause justifies a longer period with a documented order; and limits each post-hearing submission to twenty-five pages exclusive of cover sheets, tables of contents, and tables of authorities.
Together these provisions create the post-hearing analytical framework through which parties present their final arguments about what the evidentiary record establishes and what legal conclusions follow — the written advocacy that the Hearing Panel's draft decision must engage with before issuing the majority opinion that FINRA Rule 9235(a)(7) directs the Hearing Officer to prepare.
FINRA Rule 9266 sits within the 9260 Hearing and Decision subsection of the 9200 Disciplinary Proceedings section of the 9000 Code of Procedure series. It was adopted by SR-NASD-97-28 effective August 7, 1997 and last amended by SR-FINRA-2008-021 effective December 15, 2008. The rule has not been substantively amended since its original adoption. One selected notice is associated with the rule — 08-57.
FINRA Rule 9266(a) establishes that post-hearing submissions are ordered at the Hearing Officer's discretion — a party does not have an automatic right to file post-hearing briefs or proposed findings and conclusions of law absent a Hearing Officer order. The Hearing Officer may order proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, post-hearing briefs, or both. The Hearing Officer may also order that proposed findings and conclusions be filed together with or as part of post-hearing briefs — allowing the two types of submission to be combined into a single integrated document rather than filed as separate papers.
In practice, post-hearing briefs are standard in FINRA disciplinary proceedings of any complexity. The Hearing Officer typically orders post-hearing submissions as part of the CMSO or at the conclusion of the hearing, establishing the specific deadlines and format requirements applicable to the case. FINRA's Guide to the Disciplinary Hearing Process confirms this: the Hearing Panel typically issues its decision within sixty days after the conclusion of the hearing — a timeline that necessarily assumes post-hearing briefing has been ordered and completed within that period.
The discretionary formulation is appropriate because not every case warrants the additional time and expense of post-hearing briefing. A straightforward default proceeding where all allegations are deemed admitted under FINRA Rule 9269 requires no post-hearing briefing — the facts are established by the default and the decision turns on sanction determination. An expedited proceeding under the Rule 9550 series with a compressed timeline may not permit the full post-hearing briefing schedule that a complex multi-respondent disciplinary case would warrant. The Hearing Officer's discretion to tailor the post-hearing submission process to each case's specific needs is one of the most important tools for efficient proceeding management.
FINRA Rule 9266(b) imposes a specific requirement on all proposed findings of fact and other statements of fact in post-hearing briefs: they shall be supported by specific references to the record. This record citation requirement is operationally essential for the Hearing Panel's decision-drafting process — the Hearing Officer who prepares the majority decision pursuant to FINRA Rule 9235(a)(7) relies on the parties' proposed findings and briefs to organize the factual record, and specific record citations enable the Hearing Officer to verify each factual assertion against the transcript and exhibit record rather than accepting the parties' characterizations without verification.
Record citations in FINRA post-hearing briefs typically take the form of transcript page references — Tr. 245:12-18 — for testimony-based facts and exhibit numbers — CX-15, RX-3 — for documentary facts. A brief that asserts that a witness testified to a specific fact without citing the transcript page where that testimony appears is non-compliant with FINRA Rule 9266(b) and forces the Panel to search the transcript record to verify the assertion. A brief that cites specific transcript pages and exhibit numbers enables efficient verification and demonstrates counsel's actual command of the evidentiary record rather than a generalized characterization of it.
The record citation requirement also disciplines the post-hearing advocacy process — requiring parties to ground their factual assertions in the actual evidentiary record prevents the post-hearing brief from becoming a vehicle for asserting facts that were not established at the hearing. If a fact was not testified to by any witness and does not appear in any exhibit, it cannot be cited to the record and therefore cannot appear as a factual assertion in a post-hearing brief. This constraint keeps post-hearing advocacy tethered to what the hearing actually established rather than what the parties wish had been established.
FINRA Rule 9266(c) establishes the 60-day maximum for the total post-hearing briefing period, with a good cause extension mechanism requiring a documented order from the Hearing Officer.
The 60-day default is measured from the conclusion of the hearing — not from transcript availability or any other event. The phrase total period allowed for filing post-hearing submissions means that the combined period from the hearing's conclusion through the filing of all parties' final submissions may not exceed 60 days under the default rule. In a briefing schedule where Enforcement files an opening brief, respondents file answering briefs, and Enforcement files a reply, all three submissions must be completed within the 60-day total window unless a good cause extension is granted.
The consultation with parties requirement — the Hearing Officer shall, after consultation with the parties, prescribe the period within which proposed findings and post-hearing briefs are to be filed — ensures that the briefing schedule reflects realistic assessment of the time each party actually needs given the case's complexity. A hearing that generates three days of testimony and fifty exhibits may be adequately briefed in 30 days. A hearing that generates three weeks of testimony and five hundred exhibits may genuinely require the full 60 days. The consultation mechanism enables the Hearing Officer to calibrate the schedule appropriately rather than imposing a one-size-fits-all deadline.
The good cause extension — allowing the Hearing Officer to permit a period different from the 60-day default when good cause is shown, with the order required to set forth the reasons why a longer period is necessary — creates a documented record of any extension justification. Complex multi-respondent cases, cases involving voluminous expert testimony on technical subjects, cases where post-hearing transcripts are unusually delayed, and cases where a party faces genuine hardship in the briefing period may justify documented extensions beyond 60 days. The documented-reasons requirement ensures that extensions are granted for genuine need rather than routine delay, and creates an appellate record of any extended briefing period.
FINRA Rule 9266(d) imposes a 25-page limit on each post-hearing submission, exclusive of cover sheets, tables of contents, and tables of authorities, unless the Hearing Officer orders otherwise. This page limit serves the same purpose as FINRA Rule 9146(i)'s 10-page limit on motion papers — directing parties toward concise, focused advocacy rather than exhaustive treatments that force the Hearing Panel to sift through excessive length to find the essential arguments.
Twenty-five pages is a generous allowance for post-hearing briefing in most FINRA disciplinary cases. A well-organized post-hearing brief or proposed findings of fact can address the factual record, the applicable legal standards, the application of law to facts, and the appropriate sanction analysis within that limit. Longer briefs are typically not more persuasive — they may actually be less effective if the core arguments are buried in peripheral discussion that the Hearing Panel must wade through to reach the essential analysis.
The exclusion of cover sheets, tables of contents, and tables of authorities from the page count is the same convention as FINRA Rule 9264(d)'s exclusion of those items from the 35-page summary disposition memorandum limit — recognizing that these navigational and citation materials serve essential organizational functions without consuming space better devoted to substantive argument. Tables of contents are particularly valuable in post-hearing briefs that address multiple causes of action separately — enabling the Hearing Panel to navigate directly to the discussion of each cause.
The Hearing Officer orders otherwise qualifier preserves discretion for unusually complex cases where the standard 25-page limit genuinely cannot accommodate adequate briefing. A case involving dozens of causes of action against multiple respondents across multiple regulatory regimes may require substantially more than 25 pages for a complete post-hearing analysis — and the Hearing Officer can authorize expanded page limits when the specific circumstances of the case warrant it.
FINRA's Guide to the Disciplinary Hearing Process describes the typical post-hearing briefing sequence: after the evidentiary hearing, the Hearing Officer issues a scheduling order establishing the deadlines for post-hearing submissions. Each party submits proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law, and a post-hearing brief — or a combined document addressing all three — within the prescribed schedule. Enforcement submits first as the party bearing the burden of proof, respondents answer, and Enforcement may file a reply if the Hearing Officer permits one under FINRA Rule 9146(h)'s no-right-to-reply default. The Hearing Panel then deliberates and the Hearing Officer prepares the majority decision pursuant to FINRA Rule 9235(a)(7), which is issued within the 65-day period established by FINRA Rule 9268(b) after the final post-hearing submission date.
The connection between FINRA Rule 9266's 60-day briefing window and FINRA Rule 9268(b)'s 65-day decision drafting window creates a complete post-hearing timeline: up to 60 days for briefing followed by up to 65 days for decision drafting, for a total post-hearing period of up to 125 days before a final Hearing Panel decision must be issued under the default standards. This timeline is consistent with the practical experience described in secondary sources that the Hearing Panel typically issues its decision within 60 days after the conclusion of the hearing — a description that likely assumes a more compressed post-hearing schedule in straightforward cases rather than the full combined maximum.
FINRA Rule 9266 connects directly to FINRA Rule 9235(a)(7) — the Hearing Officer prepares the majority decision based in part on the parties' post-hearing submissions ordered under FINRA Rule 9266. FINRA Rule 9265's transcript correction process must be completed before post-hearing briefs are filed — the deadline for transcript corrections is set by reference to the FINRA Rule 9266 filing date. FINRA Rule 9267's official record includes post-hearing briefs and proposed findings as part of the complete record preserved for appellate review. FINRA Rule 9268's decision timeline begins running from the final FINRA Rule 9266 submission date — the 65-day decision drafting period in FINRA Rule 9268(b) starts from the final date allowed for filing post-hearing submissions.
FINRA Rule 9266 is tested on the Series 24 General Securities Principal examination as the post-hearing briefing rule — the rule governing the final written advocacy phase between hearing completion and Hearing Panel decision.
The key points to retain are these: FINRA Rule 9266 gives the Hearing Officer discretion to order parties to file proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, post-hearing briefs, or both — post-hearing submissions are ordered at Hearing Officer discretion, not automatically available as a matter of right; the Hearing Officer may order proposed findings and conclusions filed together with or as part of post-hearing briefs; all proposed findings of fact and other factual statements in post-hearing briefs must be supported by specific references to the record — transcript page citations and exhibit numbers; the Hearing Officer prescribes the briefing period after consultation with the parties; the total period allowed for all post-hearing submissions may not exceed 60 days after the conclusion of the hearing unless the Hearing Officer, for good cause shown, permits a different period and sets forth in an order the reasons why a longer period is necessary; each post-hearing submission may not exceed 25 pages exclusive of cover sheets, tables of contents, and tables of authorities unless the Hearing Officer orders otherwise; the 60-day briefing window connects to FINRA Rule 9268(b)'s 65-day decision drafting period creating a total post-hearing timeline of up to 125 days under the default standards; and the rule was adopted in 1997 and last amended December 15, 2008 through SR-FINRA-2008-021 with no substantive amendments since original adoption.
