4.4. Customer Protection Rule

The SEC adopted Rule 15c3-3, known as the Customer Protection Rule, in 1972 as a reaction to several broker-dealer firms liquidating and leaving their customers high and dry. Prior to that time, broker-dealers had been in the habit of pledging customer securities as collateral for bank loans, and customer credit balances had been used to finance the broker-dealers’ business. Between 1968 and 1970, more