Records and archiving for advisers
3 tools, 4 guides, 7 comparisons
This drawer holds the record-keeping rules themselves: what an adviser must make and keep under Rule 204-2, how a broker-dealer is pointed to Rules 17a-3 and 17a-4 by FINRA Rule 4511, how electronic storage has to work, and what Regulation S-P asks of the customer information you hold.
The comparisons read archives and storage services against those same rules: whether a product captures a message as sent, how it stores it, and whether it can hand it over when an examiner asks. If you need a date, start with the retention calculator; if you are choosing storage, start with the 17a-4 and WORM guide.
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Tools
Books and records retention calculatorPick a firm type and a record class and get the keep-until date and the easily accessible window.OpenArchiving requirements matcherPick the channels your firm uses and see what must be captured, how long it is kept, and which tools cover it.OpenBooks and records checklist generatorLists the records your firm must make and keep for its type and activities, with the rule paragraph for each.Open
Guides
- SEC Rule 17a-4 and WORM storage, explainedWhat the amended Rule 17a-4(f) allows, what WORM still means, and what to ask a storage vendor.13 min read
- Regulation S-P for small advisers and broker-dealersThe customer-record safeguards Regulation S-P sets for small advisers and broker-dealers, and what the amendments changed.15 min read
- FINRA Rule 4511: books and records for broker-dealersFINRA's general records rule and how it points a broker-dealer to SEC Rules 17a-3 and 17a-4.12 min read
- Rule 204-2: the adviser books and records ruleWhich records an adviser keeps under Rule 204-2, for how long, and how electronic storage works.12 min read
Comparisons
- Best email archiving software for advisers (SEC and FINRA)Email archives judged on the adviser and broker-dealer record rules, with general business archives named as such.Comparison
- Best social media archiving software for advisersArchiving for LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram posts, comments and messages, judged against the record rules.Comparison
- Smarsh alternatives for advisers and small broker-dealersWho else archives adviser communications, what drives an archiving quote, and when a small firm switches.Comparison
- Best SEC 17a-4 compliant cloud storage for broker-dealer recordsDocument and object storage checked against the two storage modes the amended Rule 17a-4(f) allows.Comparison
- Global Relay alternatives, and what drives an archiving quoteWhat drives an archiving quote, then the other archives a small firm can use and who each one fits.Comparison
- Best WhatsApp and iMessage archiving for financial firmsCapture tools for the two consumer messaging apps at the centre of the SEC's off-channel cases.Comparison
- Best text message archiving software for financial firmsCarrier, app and device capture tools for keeping the texts a firm's people already send.Comparison
In the vendor directory
- Communications archiving vendorsVendors that capture and keep email, text, social and chat messages for advisers and broker-dealers.