It's finally here. After over a year of discussion and a postponement, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Rule 2111 on suitability requirements governing the sale of securities is set for implementation July 9. Also scheduled to go into effect on the same date is its companion regulation, FINRA Rule 2090, or Know Your Customer.

The new rules essentially combine, with two significant changes, previous regulations from the National Association of Securities Dealers and the New York Stock Exchange covering suitability standards when securities such as equities, fixed income products, mutual funds, derivatives and variable annuities are being sold by broker-dealers.

In a regulatory notice issued in May 2011, FINRA wrote that a suitability investigation "requires that a firm or associated person have a reasonable basis to believe that a recommended transaction or investment strategy involving a security or securities is suitable for the customer based on the information obtained through the reasonable diligence of the member or associated person to ascertain the customer's investment profile."