FINRA Rule 9350

FINRA Rule 9350 sits within the 9300 Review of Disciplinary Proceeding by National Adjudicatory Council and FINRA Board; Application for SEC Review series as the subsection header for the Board review phase. It was adopted as part of the original Code of Procedure by SR-NASD-97-28 effective August 7, 1997 and has been maintained as the subsection header through all subsequent amendments to the rule within it.

The Rule Within FINRA Rule 9350's Subsection

FINRA Rule 9351 — Discretionary Review by FINRA Board — is the single substantive rule within FINRA Rule 9350's subsection. It establishes that a Governor may call a disciplinary proceeding for FINRA Board review within the fifteen-day period prescribed in the rule — a period that begins when the FINRA Board receives the NAC's proposed written decision under FINRA Rule 9349(b). 

The fifteen-day period may be shortened to less than fifteen days by unanimous Board vote, or extended to more than fifteen days by majority Board vote during the period. If a Governor calls the proceeding for review within the prescribed period, the FINRA Board shall review the proceeding not later than the next Board meeting. 

The Board may order parties to file briefs — excluding respondents who did not appeal, cross-appeal, or are not subject to the relevant call-for-review issues. After review, the Board may affirm, modify, or reverse the NAC's proposed written decision; may affirm, modify, reverse, increase, or reduce any sanction including PCDO terms; may impose any other fitting sanction; or may remand with instructions.

The FINRA Board's Position in the Appellate Hierarchy

FINRA Rule 9350's subsection organizes the highest level of FINRA's internal appellate review — the FINRA Board itself. The Board's discretionary review authority creates a third tier of internal appellate review above the OHO Hearing Panel and the NAC, but its exercise is rare in practice. 

As the Federal Register filing for the June 2025 rulemaking confirmed, for most matters the NAC considers, its written decision becomes final FINRA action if the FINRA Board does not call the proposed decision for review pursuant to FINRA Rule 9351. The Board's review authority exists as a governance backstop — ensuring that FINRA's ultimate governing body retains oversight of significant disciplinary outcomes — but it is not invoked in routine cases.

When a Governor does call a proceeding for Board review, the Board exercises the same broad dispositional authority under FINRA Rule 9351 that the NAC exercised under FINRA Rule 9348 — the Board may affirm, modify, reverse, or remand findings, and may affirm, modify, reverse, increase, or reduce any sanction. The Board's decision following its review under FINRA Rule 9351 constitutes the final FINRA disciplinary action for SEA Rule 19d-1(c)(1) purposes, superseding the NAC's proposed decision as the outcome of the internal appellate process and triggering the respondent's right to seek SEC review under FINRA Rule 9370.

Connection to FINRA Rules 9144, 9349, 9351, 9360, and 9370

FINRA Rule 9350 connects to FINRA Rule 9144(b) — which specifically prohibits Governors from participating in discussions relating to the call for review, review, or appeal pursuant to the Rule 9300 series, except that the NAC Chair who is also a Governor is exempt. This separation of functions limitation means that the Board's discretionary review authority must be exercised with careful attention to which Governors are and are not subject to FINRA Rule 9144's restrictions. It connects to FINRA Rule 9349 — whose proposed written decision is the subject of the Board's discretionary review authority. It connects to FINRA Rule 9351 — the single substantive rule within the FINRA Rule 9350 subsection. It connects to FINRA Rule 9360 — whose sanctions effectiveness provisions govern when a Board decision under FINRA Rule 9351 takes effect. And it connects to FINRA Rule 9370 — whose SEC review right is triggered when either the NAC's FINRA Rule 9349 decision becomes final without a Board call, or the Board's FINRA Rule 9351 decision becomes final.

Examination Relevance and Key Takeaways

FINRA Rule 9350 is tested on the Series 24 General Securities Principal examination as the organizational header of the FINRA Board discretionary review subsection — understanding its structural role is prerequisite to correctly navigating FINRA Rule 9351's Governor call-for-review mechanism and the Board's dispositional powers.

The key points to retain are these: FINRA Rule 9350 is the subsection header for the single-rule FINRA Board discretionary review subsection within the 9300 series — it has no independent operative text but organizes FINRA Rule 9351; FINRA Rule 9351 governs the Governor call-for-review right within fifteen days of the Board receiving the NAC's proposed decision, the Board's mandatory review at the next Board meeting if called, the Board's authority to order party briefing, and the Board's complete dispositional powers — affirm, modify, reverse, or remand findings and affirm, modify, reverse, increase, reduce, or substitute sanctions; the Board's review is the highest level of FINRA's internal appellate structure and its exercise is rare in practice; FINRA Rule 9350's subsection is positioned between the NAC formal consideration rule of FINRA Rule 9349 and the sanctions effectiveness rule of FINRA Rule 9360 within the 9300 series; and the rule was adopted as part of the original 1997 Code of Procedure.