Outside Business Activities

If an investment firm has registered employees who are moonlighting and earning money outside of the firm, the employees have to report on these activities. According to NASD (FINRA) Rule 3030, the firm has to okay and monitor this extra-curricular work (known as outside business activities). 

Example

Mary Ellen is a registered employee at an investment firm. The pay is good, but she feels her soul bleeding out of her ears whenever she looks at a spreadsheet; so she launches her own knitting business.

She has to tell her firm about the business, and the firm has to green light the earnings and make sure the knitting doesn't interfere with what Mary Ellen does at the firm.

Translation: Big Brother is watching.

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