The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rule requiring member firms to strengthen their background investigation of applicants seeking registration.  We have detailed the requirements of the FINRA rule in our previous blog post.  The SEC has “accelerated approval” of the rule, though the agency still will accept comments for 21 days from publication in the Federal Register.  The rule is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2015.