August 30, 2005
As a NASD member firm, we are concerned with the administration burden associated with this proposed rule that requires that we annually re-notify the NASD of our use of the limited size and resources exemption for Rule 3012 compliance. In light of the fact that the burden appears to be on the BD to remember the anniversary date of our initial notification of our use of this exemption and to report annually thereafter on or before this anniversary date, this is creating an undue reporting burden that could be satisifed by requiring only the initial notification and a subsequent notification only when the BD ceases to rely on the exemption. To require annual notification does not appear to provide any substantive value to the member firms or the NASD. If this suggestion is not acceptable, we propose that the NASD at minimum consider making this new notification part of the quarterly updated NASD Contact System, since this is already an established BD reporting system for updating the NASD of pertinent securities business mix and contact information on a quarterly basis.