Books & Records
Rule 204-2 recordkeeping — what an adviser must retain, retention schedules, and archiving email and off-channel communications.
Rule 204-2 — the Books and Records Rule — defines the paper trail a registered investment adviser must keep: financial records, trade records, communications relating to advice, advertising, and the documentation behind the compliance program itself. In an examination, the records rule is where theory meets practice — if it wasn't retained, it's hard to prove it happened.
The articles in this topic cover what must be kept and for how long, how electronic recordkeeping requirements apply, and how firms handle the hardest modern problem in this area: capturing email, texts, and off-channel communications.
All Books & Records articles
Text Message Archiving for Financial Advisors (iMessage)
What SEC and FINRA rules require for archiving advisor text messages, why iMessage is the hard channel, and the four ways firms stay compliant.
RIA Email Archiving Requirements: SEC vs. FINRA
What RIAs must archive under Rule 204-2 (email, text, social), how the broker-dealer rules (17a-4, FINRA 4511) differ, and why WORM satisfies both.
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