Recently, the SEC settled with FINRA for allegedly altering documents that were requested as part of an SEC examination. The SEC has ordered FINRA to hire an independent consultant within 30 days to review and assess FINRA's policies and procedures relating to document integrity and make recommendations for improvement. In 2008, according to the SEC, "the Director of FINRA's Kansas City District Office caused the alteration of three records of staff meeting minutes just hours before producing them to the SEC inspection staff, making the documents inaccurate and incomplete." Further, the SEC maintains that "the production of the altered documents by the Kansas City District Office was the third instance during an eight-year period in which an employee of FINRA or its predecessor (National Association of Securities Dealers) provided altered or misleading documents to the SEC.
