금융투자상품 투자권유의 적합성원칙에 관한 소고

Rule 2111, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's new suitability rule was approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2010. According to the new FINRA Rule 2111, a broker-dealer must have a reasonable basis to believe that an investment recommendation is suitable for the customer, based on the information gathered through the reasonable diligence of the broker-dealer. Rule 2111(a) adds a customer’s investment profile, that the broker-dealer should consider when ascertaining the suitability of his/her recommendation, including the customer’s age, investment experience, investment time horizon, liquidity needs, and risk tolerance. Rule 2111 made it clear that the suitability obligation applies to an explicit recommendation to hold a security as well as an investment strategy and is composed of the three main obligations: the reasonable-basis obligation, which proposed ‘know-your-product obligation’ as a prerequisite to the suitability rule; the customer-specific obligation; and the quantitative suitability. Lastly, the rule provides an exemption to customer-specific suitability regarding institutional investors if the broker-dealer reasonably believes that the institutional investor can evaluate investment risks independently and the customer affirmatively indicates that it is exercising independent judgment regarding the broker-dealer’s recommendation. The Rule 2111 has significant meaning that it suggests the necessities to stipulate know-your-product-rule in the Capital Markets and Financial Investment Services Act and to reconsider whether the suitability rule should also be applied to institutional investors.