--- title: "Brokerage Mechanics Checklist" description: "Verify your understanding of account types, settlement rules, buying power, margin, fees, custody, and execution quality before trading through a broker." canonical: https://www.getswoopr.com/markets/execution/clearing-settlement-and-brokerage-mechanics/brokerage-mechanics-checklist/ source: "Swoopr Investment: https://www.getswoopr.com" --- ## Direct Answer > The brokerage mechanics checklist is a self-assessment tool covering eight areas, account type, settlement, buying power, margin, fees, custody, corporate actions, and execution quality, that traders should understand before placing their first trade or switching brokers. Each of the 47 items flags whether a gap in understanding could trigger a violation, account restriction, or unexpected loss. # Brokerage Mechanics Checklist Work through eight areas of brokerage mechanics, account type, settlement, buying power, margin, fees, custody, corporate actions, and execution quality, before your first trade or after switching brokers. Every unchecked critical item is a gap that can produce unexpected losses, violations, or account restrictions. **Educational tool only.** This checklist documents your self-reported understanding. It is not investment advice and does not substitute for reading your broker's customer agreement, margin disclosure, or regulatory notices. Brokerage rules and regulatory requirements vary by account type, broker, and jurisdiction. ## Brokerage Mechanics Readiness Checklist Check each item once you understand it and have verified it applies to your broker and account. **Critical** items have direct potential to restrict your account, trigger violations, or cause unexpected losses if misunderstood. 0 of 42 items checked 1 Account Type & Registration 0 / 6 ▼ The account type determines settlement rules, margin eligibility, tax treatment, and SIPC coverage. Misidentifying your account type is one of the most common sources of unexpected violations. I know whether my account is a cash account or margin account Critical Cash and margin accounts operate under fundamentally different settlement and buying-power rules. Check your account agreement or the broker's account summary page, never assume. Cash vs. Margin: Settlement Mechanics → I understand the Pattern Day Trader (PDT) rule and whether it applies to me Critical Under the legacy FINRA Rule 4210 day-trading provisions, executing four or more day trades in a rolling five-business-day period in a margin account with under $25,000 triggered pattern day trader status, which could freeze trading or restrict the account to closing orders only. As of June 4, 2026, FINRA's new intraday margin standards (Regulatory Notice 26-10) replaced the day-trading margin requirements, including the pattern day trader designation and the $25,000 minimum equity requirement; firms may phase in implementation through October 20, 2027, so confirm which standard your broker applies. Verify current requirements with your broker. I understand the account registration type (individual, joint, IRA, custodial) Important Registration affects withdrawal rules, tax reporting, beneficiary rights, and contribution limits. IRAs carry additional penalties for early withdrawals. Joint accounts may require co-owner signatures for certain actions. I know the Reg T initial margin requirement for opening equity positions Important Regulation T requires at least 50% of the purchase price of marginable securities to be deposited as initial margin. Your broker may impose higher "house" requirements. I know my options approval level and what strategies it permits Review Options approval levels (typically 1-4) determine which strategies you can execute. Selling naked options, for example, usually requires level 4 and approval for portfolio-margin accounts. I have read my broker's customer agreement and margin disclosure statement Critical The customer agreement defines the broker's right to liquidate positions without notice, change margin requirements, refuse orders, and restrict account activity. FINRA Rule 2264 requires firms to give non-institutional customers a margin disclosure statement when a margin account is opened and at least once a year afterward. 2 Settlement Fundamentals 0 / 6 ▼ Settlement is the legal transfer of securities and cash that completes a trade. Understanding the timeline determines when you can use sale proceeds, how dividends are allocated, and what happens if a counterparty fails to deliver. I know that U.S. equities settle on T+1 and what this means for sale proceeds Critical Equities settled under the SEC's T+1 rule since May 2024. Sale proceeds are credited the next business day after the trade date, not the same day. This lag governs what counts as "settled cash" in a cash account. Trade Lifecycle: Order to T+1 Settlement → I can distinguish clearing from settlement and what the NSCC and DTC do Important Clearing (NSCC) nets obligations across all trades so participants exchange less cash and fewer securities. Settlement (DTC) is the actual book-entry transfer of beneficial ownership. Both happen after the fill. Clearing vs. Settlement Explained → I understand what a fail-to-deliver is and how it can affect my positions Important A fail-to-deliver occurs when a seller cannot deliver the securities by the settlement date. Persistent FTDs can trigger close-out requirements and may affect short positions or options exercises. Fails-to-Deliver & Settlement Failure Mechanics → I understand that shares are held in street name and what beneficial ownership means Important Your broker holds shares in the Depository Trust Company's name, with you as the beneficial owner. This affects how dividends, proxy votes, and tender offers are processed on your behalf. Beneficial Ownership, Custody & Street Name → I am aware of common brokerage and settlement mistakes and how to avoid them Review Common mistakes include selling a new position before its funding proceeds settle in a cash account (good-faith violation), misidentifying the ex-dividend date, or failing to maintain margin during market hours before a sell settles. Buying with unsettled proceeds is permitted; the violation occurs only when you sell the funded position before those proceeds settle. Common Brokerage & Settlement Mistakes → I know how options assignments and exercises settle (T+1 for equity options) Review Equity options exercise and assignment settle on T+1, the same day as the underlying security. Being assigned on a short call when you do not hold the underlying can produce an unintended short stock position that must settle immediately. 3 Buying Power & Cash Rules 0 / 5 ▼ Buying power rules differ sharply between cash and margin accounts. Violations can result in a 90-day trading restriction, where you must deposit the full purchase price before placing orders. I understand what a good-faith violation is and how to avoid it in a cash account Critical A good-faith violation occurs when you buy a security using unsettled proceeds and then sell it before those proceeds settle. Three violations in a rolling 12-month period triggers a 90-day restriction at most brokers (a common policy threshold, not a universal SEC rule; your broker's specific terms govern). Good Faith & Freeriding Violations Explained → I understand what a freeriding violation is and its consequence Critical Freeriding is a more serious violation: you buy a security with no settled funds, then sell it before paying. A single freeriding violation triggers an immediate 90-day restriction, and the broker must freeze unsettled-fund purchases. Freeriding Violation Rules → I understand how margin buying power is calculated (2x for overnight, 4x intraday for PDT) Important Standard margin accounts can hold 2x overnight buying power. Qualified PDT accounts may access 4x intraday buying power for day trades only, positions held overnight revert to 2x. Using 4x overnight triggers a margin call. Note: FINRA's intraday margin requirements became effective June 4, 2026, replacing legacy PDT day-trading margin provisions; brokerage firms may transition through October 20, 2027, so check your broker's current rules. Buying Power Mechanics → I can see settled versus unsettled funds in my brokerage account interface Critical Brokers display buying power differently. Confirm you can locate the "settled cash" or "available to trade without margin" balance in your account view before placing trades in a cash account. I know how long new deposits (ACH, wire) take to clear for settled trading in my account Review ACH deposits may take 2-5 business days to fully settle, though brokers sometimes extend provisional buying power before funds clear. Wires clear faster (same or next business day) but fees apply. Using provisional buying power and then withdrawing can trigger a violation. 4 Margin & Leverage 0 / 6 ▼ Margin amplifies both gains and losses. Brokers can raise maintenance requirements, issue margin calls with no advance notice, and liquidate positions at market price without asking permission. I know my broker's maintenance margin requirement and how a margin call is triggered Critical FINRA Rule 4210 sets a minimum 25% maintenance margin for long positions. Most brokers require 30-40% for standard equities and higher for volatile stocks. When equity falls below this threshold, a margin call is issued immediately. Margin Calls & Forced Liquidation → I understand the broker can liquidate my positions without advance notice during a margin call Critical Brokers are not legally required to notify you before liquidating marginable positions to meet a margin call. The customer agreement grants the broker this right. During fast markets, positions may be closed before you can react. Forced Liquidation Mechanics → I know my broker's house margin requirements for the securities I trade Important Brokers impose higher "house requirements" on penny stocks, low-float names, and highly volatile securities, sometimes up to 100%, effectively making them non-marginable. Check before entering a position with borrowed funds. I know the margin interest rate charged by my broker and how it accrues Important Margin interest is charged daily on the debit balance and billed monthly. Interest rates are often tiered (lower for larger balances). Overnight balances accrue interest; intraday trades that close by end of day typically do not. I understand that shares in a margin account may be lent out by my broker Important Most margin agreements allow brokers to lend your shares to short sellers. Lent shares may not be protected by SIPC if the broker fails. Cash accounts do not allow hypothecation of securities. Securities Lending, Borrow Recalls & Buy-Ins → I understand how leverage amplifies losses and have a margin-management plan Review A 2x leveraged position loses 100% of equity on a 50% stock decline, before margin interest. Define a maximum leverage ratio and a "reduce-to-cash" trigger before using margin, not after a margin call arrives. 5 Fees & Transaction Costs 0 / 5 ▼ Zero-commission brokers still pass through regulatory fees and may earn revenue through payment for order flow. All costs affect net P&L, and small fees compound significantly in high-frequency trading strategies. I know about the SEC Section 31 transaction fee charged on sell orders Important Brokers pass through the SEC Section 31 fee (a small percentage of the sale amount) on every equity and options sell. The rate is set annually by the SEC. Options also incur FINRA's Trading Activity Fee (TAF) per contract. I understand payment for order flow (PFOF) and how it may affect my fill quality Important Many zero-commission brokers route retail orders to market makers who pay for the order flow. The market maker profits from the bid-ask spread; the implicit cost is that your fills may be slightly worse than the NBBO midpoint. I know all per-contract fees for options trades at my broker, including exercise and assignment fees Important Even zero-commission brokers may charge $0.50-$0.65 per contract for options plus regulatory fees. Exercise and assignment often carry a flat fee ($0-$15 per event). On small-premium contracts, these fees can exceed the premium received. I know any ACATS transfer fees and account closure fees charged by my broker Review Transferring an account to another broker via ACATS typically takes 5-7 business days. The delivering broker may charge a full or partial transfer fee ($50-$150). Confirm before assuming a "free" transfer. If I use margin, I have calculated the annualized return needed to break even after interest Review At a 10% margin rate on a 2x position, the leveraged asset must return more than 10% per year before any position gain is realized. This hurdle compounds if the position is held for multiple years. Execution Cost Calculator → 6 Custody & Investor Protection 0 / 5 ▼ SIPC covers up to $500,000 (including $250,000 in cash) per customer per broker if a member firm fails. It does not cover market losses, fraud against you by a third party, or crypto held on most platforms. I know what SIPC protects and what it does not protect Critical SIPC protects securities and cash held at member firms against broker insolvency, not investment losses. Futures, forex, commodity contracts, and crypto (in most cases) are not covered. Amounts above the limit are unsecured claims. SIPC: What It Protects and What It Does Not → I have verified that my broker is a registered SIPC member Critical SIPC membership can be verified at sipc.org. Not all entities that call themselves brokers are SIPC members, crypto exchanges, unregistered offshore platforms, and many forex dealers are not. Confirm independently rather than trusting marketing materials. I understand excess SIPC coverage and whether my broker carries supplemental insurance Review Many larger brokers carry private excess-SIPC insurance (through Lloyd's of London or others) that provides additional coverage per customer above the statutory $500,000 limit. The terms vary, read the policy rather than relying on marketing summaries. SIPC & Supplemental Coverage → I understand rehypothecation risk: my margin-account shares can be lent and pledged by the broker Important In a margin account. The broker can re-pledge your securities as collateral for its own borrowings (rehypothecation). If the broker fails while your shares are lent, recovery may be partial and delayed even within SIPC limits. Custody & Street Name → I have checked my broker's record on FINRA BrokerCheck for disciplinary actions Review FINRA BrokerCheck (brokercheck.finra.org) shows regulatory actions, suspensions, and customer disputes for broker-dealer firms and their registered representatives. Verify before transferring large amounts. 7 Corporate Actions & Events 0 / 5 ▼ Corporate actions alter the economic value of your position and often interact with the settlement cycle in ways that surprise traders. Understanding the ex-date, record date, and payable date sequence is essential. I understand the ex-dividend date vs. record date vs. payable date sequence Important To receive a dividend you must own the shares by end of day before the ex-dividend date (not the record date). Under T+1 settlement, buying on the ex-date means settlement falls after the record date and no dividend is received. Corporate Actions During the Settlement Cycle → I know how stock splits and reverse splits affect open options positions Important OCC adjusts option contracts for stock splits (standard splits result in more contracts, reverse splits in non-standard contracts with odd share counts or prices). Non-standard contracts can have wider spreads and reduced liquidity. Corporate Actions: Splits & Spin-offs → I know how tender offer and merger deadlines work through a broker Review Tender offer deadlines typically require broker submission 2-3 business days before the offer expiration. Missing the broker's internal deadline means missing the corporate action, even if the offer is still technically open. Tender Offers & Settlement → I know how spin-offs and rights offerings appear in my account and their tax implications Review Spin-off shares are distributed to holders of record on the record date. The cost basis of the original position is typically split between the parent and the spin-off according to the IRS allocation ratio. Brokers may or may not auto-calculate this correctly. I understand that borrowed shares on a short position can be recalled by the lender at any time Important If the original lender recalls their shares, your broker must locate a new borrow or force you to cover your short position, potentially at an unfavorable price. Hard-to-borrow stocks are especially susceptible to sudden recalls. Borrow Recalls & Buy-Ins → 8 Order Routing & Execution Quality 0 / 9 ▼ Your order does not go directly to an exchange. Understanding the routing chain, order types, and best-execution standards helps you assess whether your fills are competitive and when to use limit orders. I understand what the National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO) is and my broker's obligation to it Important Regulation NMS Rule 611 requires trading centers to maintain policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent trade-throughs of protected quotations, subject to the rule's exceptions. It does not guarantee that every market order fills at the exact NBBO snapshot visible at submission. Your broker also carries a separate best-execution duty under FINRA Rule 5310 requiring reasonable diligence to seek the most favorable terms available under prevailing market conditions. I know where to find my broker's SEC Rule 606 order routing report Review Rule 606 quarterly reports disclose where brokers route orders and what payment or rebates they receive. This data helps you assess whether your broker prioritizes execution quality or PFOF revenue. I understand the risks of market orders in illiquid securities and at market open/close Critical Market orders in thinly traded stocks can fill far from the quoted price if the spread is wide or the book is thin. Market orders placed during pre/post-market or at the open auction can execute at prices significantly removed from the prior close. I use limit orders when fill price is more important than execution certainty Important Limit orders guarantee a price but not a fill. A buy limit order at $50 will not fill above $50 but may not fill at all if the stock gaps up. For illiquid or fast-moving securities, limit orders are generally preferable to market orders. I understand how stop orders behave in fast markets (they become market orders when triggered) Critical A stop order becomes a market order when the stop price is reached. In a fast market, the resulting fill may be far below the stop price (slippage). Stop-limit orders specify a floor price but may not execute at all if the market moves through the limit. I understand pre- and post-market session rules at my broker (order types accepted, routing) Review Extended-hours sessions have lower liquidity, wider spreads, and different routing. Most brokers only accept limit orders in extended hours. GTC orders may or may not carry into extended sessions depending on your order parameters. I understand GTC (Good Till Canceled) order expiration at my broker Review Most brokers expire GTC orders automatically after 60-90 days. Corporate actions (splits, dividends) may cancel open GTC orders. Forgetting an open GTC order is a common cause of unintended fills after prices return to a forgotten level. I know what happens to my open orders during a trading halt or circuit breaker Important During a regulatory halt or circuit breaker, open orders are typically queued but not canceled. When the halt lifts, a rush of orders can cause the stock to open significantly above or below the halt price, filling queued orders unexpectedly. I periodically review my execution quality by comparing fills to the NBBO midpoint at execution time Review Consistent fills above the midpoint on buys (or below on sells) indicate poor execution quality or wide-spread securities. Your trade confirmation and broker's trade history tools let you audit this. Compare across brokers if execution matters to your strategy. Check My Readiness Reset ### Readiness Summary Disclaimer: This checklist is for educational purposes only. Checking an item reflects your self-reported understanding, not a certified competency test. Rules and requirements vary by broker, account type, and jurisdiction. Last reviewed: . Print / Save as PDF ## About This Checklist This tool walks through eight areas of brokerage mechanics that affect every equity and options trader: account type and registration, settlement rules, buying power and cash violations, margin and leverage, transaction costs, custody and investor protection, corporate actions, and order routing. The checklist is structured around items that, if misunderstood, most commonly produce account restrictions, unexpected violations, or losses that are not attributable to the securities themselves but to the mechanics of how trades settle and how brokers operate. ### Priority tags | Tag | Meaning | | --- | --- | | **Critical** | Gaps here directly cause account restrictions, violations, or losses from mechanics, not market moves. Understand these before placing any trade. | | **Important** | Significant financial impact if misunderstood, but the consequence is usually a suboptimal outcome rather than an immediate account action. | | **Review** | Contextual knowledge that improves decision-making and execution quality for active or more sophisticated traders. | ### Readiness bands | Band | Description | | --- | --- | | **Fully prepared** | All 42 items checked. You have reviewed each concept and understand how it applies to your broker and account. | | **Well prepared** | All Critical and Important items checked; some Review items remain. You have covered the essential foundations. | | **Partially prepared** | Some Critical or Important items unchecked. Gaps remain that could produce account restrictions or unexpected losses. | | **Foundation gaps** | Multiple Critical items unchecked. Review these before placing trades. Account violations and restriction risk is elevated. | ## Frequently Asked Questions - What is the difference between settled and unsettled cash in a brokerage account? ▼ Settled cash is money from deposits or completed stock sales whose settlement date has passed. Under T+1 settlement for U.S. equities, proceeds from a sell become settled the next business day after the trade date. Unsettled cash is the proceeds or deposits still within the settlement window. In a cash account, using unsettled funds to buy a new security and then selling that security before the original sale settles produces a good-faith violation. Margin accounts sidestep this for most day trades by lending against unsettled proceeds, but the underlying mechanics still matter for withdrawal eligibility. - Can my broker liquidate my positions without calling me first? ▼ Yes. The customer agreement you accepted when opening a margin account grants the broker the right to liquidate any or all positions in your account to satisfy a margin deficiency, without prior notice. FINRA rules do not require the broker to issue a margin call before liquidating, and in fast-moving markets, brokers often liquidate immediately to prevent further loss. The broker also chooses which positions to liquidate. You have no legal right to select which holdings are sold. This is why experienced traders manage margin well below the maintenance threshold rather than waiting for a call. - Does SIPC protect against broker fraud or bad investment recommendations? ▼ No. SIPC protects customers against the failure of a SIPC-member broker-dealer firm, it replaces missing securities or cash up to $500,000 (including $250,000 in cash) when a firm becomes insolvent and customer assets are missing. SIPC does not protect against investment losses from market moves, bad investment advice, fraud committed against you by a third party, or transactions at non-member firms. If a fraudulent investment scheme results in total loss without the securities ever being deposited at a member firm, SIPC has no role. Losses from broker misconduct may be recoverable through FINRA arbitration or SEC enforcement actions instead. - What is a good-faith violation and how many can I get before my account is restricted? ▼ A good-faith violation occurs in a cash account when you buy a security using proceeds from a recent sale that have not yet settled, then sell the newly purchased security before those original proceeds settle. Three good-faith violations in a rolling 12-month period cause the broker to restrict your account to trading only with fully settled funds for 90 days, meaning you must deposit the full purchase price before placing a buy order. A freeriding violation, which involves buying with no settled funds at all and selling before any payment is made, triggers an immediate 90-day restriction with a single occurrence. - What happens to my shares if my broker goes bankrupt? ▼ Securities at a SIPC-member broker are held in segregated accounts separate from the broker's own assets. If the broker is solvent at the time of bankruptcy but customer assets are missing or unaccounted for, SIPC initiates a liquidation proceeding and attempts to transfer accounts to another firm first. If assets cannot be transferred in full, SIPC covers up to $500,000 per customer. In practice, most brokerage bankruptcies in the U.S. have resulted in full customer-asset transfer to a healthy firm. The risk is highest when assets are in a margin account (where hypothecation is permitted) or when the firm is engaged in fraudulent activity rather than ordinary insolvency. - Why does the ex-dividend date matter more than the record date under T+1 settlement? ▼ The record date is the date on which the company's transfer agent checks who is an official shareholder of record to receive the dividend. Under T+1 settlement, a purchase made on a given trade date settles the following business day. To be on the books as a holder of record, you must have your shares settled by the record date, which means you need to have purchased by the business day before the ex-dividend date, not the record date itself. Under T+1 settlement, the ex-dividend date for a normal distribution is the same business day as the record date. Buying on the ex-dividend date means settlement occurs after the record date and no dividend is received, regardless of the stock's "record date" language. - What is payment for order flow and does it hurt retail traders? ▼ Payment for order flow (PFOF) is a practice where brokers route retail orders to market makers who pay for the right to execute those orders. The market maker profits from the bid-ask spread, they buy at the bid and sell at the ask. The retail trader may receive fills at the NBBO but typically does not receive the midpoint price. Academic research is mixed: studies have found that retail traders at PFOF brokers receive price improvement over the NBBO on average, but the improvement is often less than traders at brokers that route to exchanges. For liquid, large-cap stocks with tight spreads the difference is usually pennies per share; for less liquid names with wider spreads the implicit cost grows. The SEC proposed an Order Competition Rule in 2022 that would have required certain retail orders to be exposed in auctions before internalization, but it withdrew that proposal on June 12, 2025. - How often should the items on this checklist be re-confirmed? ▼ The market-wide mechanics change rarely, and the firm-specific ones change without notice. House margin requirements, extended-hours windows, fee schedules and the treatment of deposited funds are set by the broker and can be amended under the account agreement. Re-reading the firm's own disclosures when a change notice arrives, and before committing materially more capital, catches the items that moved without any announcement in the market. - Does this checklist apply to an account held at more than one broker? ▼ The concepts apply at each firm separately, and several of the answers will differ between them, including buying power calculation, liquidation practice, lending consent and protection limits. Positions are also not netted across firms, so exposure that looks balanced overall can produce a margin call at one of them. Working through the checklist once per account rather than once per person is what surfaces those differences. ## Related Articles in This Cluster - [Clearing vs. Settlement: What Happens After a Fill](https://www.getswoopr.com/markets/execution/clearing-settlement-and-brokerage-mechanics/clearing-vs-settlement-what-happens-after-a-fill/) - [The Stock Trade Lifecycle: Order to T+1 Settlement](https://www.getswoopr.com/markets/execution/clearing-settlement-and-brokerage-mechanics/the-stock-trade-lifecycle-order-to-t-1-settlement/) - [Cash Accounts vs. Margin Accounts: Settlement Mechanics](https://www.getswoopr.com/markets/execution/clearing-settlement-and-brokerage-mechanics/cash-accounts-vs-margin-accounts-settlement-mechanics/) - [Good Faith and Freeriding Violations Explained](https://www.getswoopr.com/learn/taxes-and-rules/brokerage-and-trading-rules/good-faith-and-freeriding-violations/) - [How Margin Calls and Forced Liquidation Work](https://www.getswoopr.com/markets/execution/clearing-settlement-and-brokerage-mechanics/how-margin-calls-and-forced-liquidation-work/) - [What SIPC Protects and What It Does Not](https://www.getswoopr.com/markets/execution/clearing-settlement-and-brokerage-mechanics/what-sipc-protects-and-what-it-does-not/) - [Beneficial Ownership, Custody, and Street Name](https://www.getswoopr.com/markets/execution/clearing-settlement-and-brokerage-mechanics/beneficial-ownership-custody-and-street-name/) - [Securities Lending, Borrow Recalls, and Buy-Ins](https://www.getswoopr.com/markets/execution/clearing-settlement-and-brokerage-mechanics/securities-lending-borrow-recalls-and-buy-ins/) - [Corporate Actions During the Settlement Cycle](https://www.getswoopr.com/markets/execution/clearing-settlement-and-brokerage-mechanics/corporate-actions-during-the-settlement-cycle/) - [What the NSCC and DTC Do in U.S. Equity Markets](https://www.getswoopr.com/markets/execution/clearing-settlement-and-brokerage-mechanics/what-nscc-and-dtc-do-in-u-s-equity-markets/) - [Common Brokerage and Settlement Mistakes](https://www.getswoopr.com/markets/execution/clearing-settlement-and-brokerage-mechanics/common-brokerage-and-settlement-mistakes/) - [Fails-to-Deliver and Settlement Failure Mechanics](https://www.getswoopr.com/markets/execution/clearing-settlement-and-brokerage-mechanics/fails-to-deliver-and-settlement-failure-mechanics/) ## References - [SEC: Shortening the Securities Transaction Settlement Cycle (T+1 Adopting Release)](https://www.sec.gov/rules-regulations/2023/02/34-96930) - [FINRA: Margin Accounts](https://www.finra.org/investors/investing/investment-products/margin-accounts) - [FINRA: Cash Accounts](https://www.finra.org/investors/learn-to-invest/brokerage-accounts/cash-accounts) - [SIPC: What SIPC Protects](https://www.sipc.org/for-investors/what-sipc-protects) - [SEC: Regulation NMS Rule 605/606 FAQs](https://www.sec.gov/rules-regulations/staff-guidance/trading-markets-frequently-asked-questions-0) - [FINRA Rule 5310: Best Execution and Interpositioning](https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/rulebooks/finra-rules/5310)