US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has begun developing a machine-readable rulebook to assist users to more readily analyze and search FINRA’s rules. As part of this initiative, FINRA is creating an embedded taxonomy — a method of classifying and categorizing a hierarchy of key terms and concepts — within certain FINRA rules, which can be more easily processed by a computer and, therefore, potentially less time-consuming and costly for a firm’s legal and compliance staff to review.
Specifically, FINRA applied, or “tagged,” the taxonomy terms that were developed to 40 FINRA rules, representing the most frequently viewed rules. FINRA has also created a prototype of a rulebook search tool — the FINRA Rulebook Search Tool (FIRST). FINRA is launching the FIRST search feature through a user interface on its website. And there’s access to the taxonomy terms that have been tagged to each of the 40 rules through an Application Programming Interface (API).
FINRA is also seeking comments on the machine-readable rulebook initiative, including the development of the taxonomy, the enhanced search features available through FIRST, the content available through the API, and any potential benefits or challenges associated with the overall user experience.