The rule generally carries out a congressional mandate. The rule, in general, prohibits the destruction for seven years of certain records related to the audit or review of an issuer's or registered investment company's financial statements.
Record-keeping requirements and SEC investigations For example, Section 17(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 17a-4 require broker-dealers to preserve communications relating to their business for at least three years and to provide those documents to the SEC upon request.
7 years: Any documents, accounts, books, writings, records or other information required to be retained, e.g. notices and minutes of all shareholders' meetings, resolutions passed at meetings and documents made available to holders of securities. Copies of reports presented at the annual general meeting of the company.
Six Key Steps to Developing a Record Retention Policy STEP 1: Identify Types of Records & Media. STEP 2: Identify Business Needs for Records & Appropriate Retention Periods. STEP 3: Addressing Creation, Distribution, Storage & Retrieval of Documents. STEP 4: Destruction of Documents. STEP 5: Documentation & Implementation.
Generally, the rule of thumb is to keep records for at least six years.
What is SEC Rule 17a-4? SEC Rule 17a-4 details how long records must be kept (typically three to six years, depending on the type of record), the format in which they must be stored (ensuring they are tamper-proof), and how they should be accessible for inspection by regulatory authorities.
Record Retention Schedule for Businesses DocumentRetention Period Contracts and leases (expired) 7 years Correspondence, general 2 years Correspondence, legal and tax related Permanently Deeds, mortgages and bills of sale Permanently36 more rows
You must keep your written evidence for 5 years from the date you lodge your tax return. In limited circumstances, there are different time periods for keeping records or record keeping exceptions.
How long to keep records. Records must be kept for 6 years from the end of the financial year they relate. In essence this means you need to keep all records for 7 years (as it's 6 years plus a year to count for the financial year). HMRC has begun a compliance check into your Company Tax Return.