Earlier this year, a client of yours wrote a letter to the firm, requesting that his mail be held for 2 months, which your firm did. Later in the year, the customer writes another letter, asking that the mail be held for another 3 months. Which statement is TRUE about this?

A. You can follow the customer's written instructions and hold the mail for an additional 3 months
B. You can follow the customer's written instructions and hold the mail for an additional 3 months only if the branch manager approves
C. You can follow the customer's written instructions and hold the mail for an additional 3 months if the letter included an acceptable reason for holding the mail
D. You cannot hold the mail for any additional length of time

C. You can follow the customer's written instructions and hold the mail for an additional 3 months if the letter included an acceptable reason for holding the mail

Explanation:

Only if the customer requests in writing, FINRA will not authorize the mail of a customer to be kept. No further information is required as long as the application does not extend 3 months.

If, furthermore, the customer requests the mail kept for more than 3 months, then perhaps a genuine reason, like health or safety issues, should be included in the order.

FINRA aggregates all hold requests which occur during one year in calculating the 3 months. The first proposal to hold for 2 months did not require an acceptable reason.

The next application involves the client in 1 year over 3 months, so a valid excuse should be provided in the letter of 2nd request to keep the mail of that customer again.