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FINRA 15c3-1

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Rule 15c3-1, known as the Net Capital Rule, sets minimum net capital requirements for broker-dealers registered with the SEC. The rule requires every registered broker-dealer to maintain, at all times, a minimum amount of net capital based on the type of business conducted. Falcon Veritas Intelligence (FVI) provides a continuous net capital monitoring module that computes the rule-based capital position in real time, integrates with your general ledger and trading ledger, and surfaces shortfall alerts to compliance and finance teams.

Scope and applicability​

Rule 15c3-1 applies to all SEC-registered broker-dealers. The minimum net capital is the greater of:

  1. Floor amount — $250,000 for firms that hold customer funds or securities, $100,000 for firms that do not hold customer funds, $5,000 for firms that are mutual fund underwriters.
  2. Aggregate indebtedness standard — net capital must equal 6.67% of aggregate indebtedness (15:1 ratio) for non-customer firms, or 4% for customer firms with broker-dealer subsidiary approval under Appendix E.
  3. Haircut-based standard — net capital must equal the minimum dollar amount required by the haircuts applied to the firm's proprietary positions (Rule 15c3-1(c)(2)).

FVI's net capital module computes all three standards on every general ledger update and surfaces the binding minimum to the compliance console.

Haircut framework​

The 15c3-1(c)(2) framework requires broker-dealers to apply regulatory haircuts to proprietary positions. The haircut rates depend on the asset class and maturity:

  1. Cash and government securities — 0-6% haircut depending on maturity. FVI's pricing service pulls live Treasury yields and applies the SEC's maturity-based haircut schedule.

  2. Money market instruments — 0-2% haircut. FVI pulls live LIBOR/SOFR rates and applies the SEC's defined haircut schedule.

  3. Equities — 15-25% haircut depending on market cap and listing status. FVI maintains the equity haircut schedule and applies the broader 25% haircut for non-OTC Bulletin Board stocks not on a recognized exchange.

  4. Options — underlying equity haircut plus 75% of the option's premium. FVI's options haircut engine applies the SEC's option haircut formula.

  5. Foreign securities — currency exposure plus the underlying asset haircut. FVI applies FX haircuts based on the country's currency regime classification.

How FVI supports 15c3-1​

FVI's net capital module ingests:

  • General ledger balances from your ERP (NetSuite, Oracle, SAP)
  • Trading ledger positions from your PMS or back-office system
  • Real-time pricing from FVI's pricing service (or your chosen provider)
  • Customer and non-customer segregated account balances

On every update, FVI recomputes the net capital position, applies the regulatory haircuts, and determines the binding minimum. The result is pushed to the FVI compliance console and to the broker-dealer finance team via email, Slack, or webhook.

Step-by-step: enabling 15c3-1 monitoring​

  1. Register the tenant. In FVI, navigate to Settings → Compliance → FINRA 15c3-1 and enter the CRD number, the firm classification (carrying or non-carrying), and the registered broker-dealer subtype. FVI validates the CRD.

  2. Connect data sources. Wire your ERP, trading ledger, and pricing service to FVI's ingestion pipeline. FVI's NetSuite, Oracle, and SAP integrations are pre-built; custom integrations use the REST or GraphQL API.

  3. Configure haircut tables. FVI ships with the SEC's standard haircut tables. Override the rates if your firm has been granted a custom haircut schedule.

  4. Set alert thresholds. Configure the alert thresholds for the binding minimum (default 110% of the minimum). FVI sends an alert when the net capital falls below 110%.

  5. Run a 30-day validation. FVI runs a 30-day dry-run that compares FVI's computed net capital against your existing net capital software. Iterate on the field mapping.

  6. Enable production. Flip the tenant to live. FVI begins real-time net capital monitoring with alerts.

  7. Quarterly reconciliation. FVI produces a quarterly reconciliation report that aligns FVI's net capital computation with the FOCUS report (SEC Form X-17A-5).

Code samples​

curl​

curl -X POST https://api.falconveritas.com/v1/compliance/finra-15c3/monitor \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FVI_JWT" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "tenantId": "'$FVI_TENANT_ID'",
    "crd": "12345",
    "firmType": "carrying",
    "idempotencyKey": "15c3-fvi-$RANDOM"
  }'

TypeScript​

import { FVI } from '@falconveritas/sdk';

const fvi = new FVI({
  baseUrl: 'https://api.falconveritas.com',
  bearer: process.env.FVI_JWT!,
  tenantId: process.env.FVI_TENANT_ID!,
});

const monitor = await fvi.compliance.finra15c3.startMonitoring({
  crd: '12345',
  firmType: 'carrying',
});

console.log('Monitor started:', monitor.id);

Python​

from falconveritas import FVI

client = FVI(
  bearer=os.environ["FVI_JWT"],
  tenant_id=os.environ["FVI_TENANT_ID"],
)

monitor = client.compliance.finra_15c3.start_monitoring(
  crd="12345",
  firm_type="carrying",
)
print("Monitor started:", monitor.id)

Troubleshooting​

Last updated: 2026-08-22 · Page owner: Documentation · Source: src/lib/compliance/finra-15c3/.