Books And Records

If you're building or auditing recordkeeping systems for broker-dealers or investment advisers, this walks you through SEC Rules 17a-3, 17a-4, and 204-2 requirements. It covers what records you must create (order tickets, blotters, customer complaints), how long to keep them (six years for ledgers, three years for communications, life of firm for incorporation docs), and storage standards like WORM compliance for electronic archives. Useful when you're setting up email archiving, responding to exam requests, evaluating vendor migrations, or figuring out retention schedules. The retention tiers are clearly laid out, and it addresses modern headaches like social media capture and BYOD policies. Strong on the technical storage requirements and the two-year easily accessible rule.

skills.sh installs: 697
GitHub stars: 224
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add joellewis/finance_skills --skill books-and-records --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Books and Records

Regulatory status current as of June 2026 — verify effective dates, dollar thresholds, and pending rulemakings against current SEC/FINRA/FinCEN sources before advising.

Core Concepts

SEC Rule 17a-3 (Records to be Made)

SEC Rule 17a-3 (17 CFR 240.17a-3) specifies the books and records that every registered broker-dealer must create and maintain. These records form the foundation of regulatory oversight, enabling examiners to reconstruct transactions, verify compliance, and protect investors. The principal categories of required records are:

SKILL.md on GitHub

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