Office address: 1700 K St NW, Washington, DC 20006
Website: finra.org
Year established: 2007 Company type: non-government organization
Employees: 4,200+
Expertise: securities regulation, broker-dealer supervision, market surveillance, enforcement and disciplinary actions, investor education, dispute resolution and arbitration, trade reporting transparency, cybersecurity and fraud detection
Parent company: N/A Key people: Robert Cook (CEO); Robert Colby (chief legal officer); Todd Diganci (CFO); Marcia Asquith (EVP); Ornella Bergeron, Denise Dombay, and Maureen Delaney (SVPs)
Financing status: N/A
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a Washington-based self-regulatory body that supervises more than 3,200 broker-dealers. It enforces rules, monitors trading, and runs tools such as TRACE, BrokerCheck, and the consolidated audit trail. In 2024, it posted $99 million net income and unveiled a crypto education program.
FINRA was officially formed in 2007 through a strategic merger. The National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) joined forces with the New York Stock Exchange's (NYSE) regulatory division to operate as one.
This created a unified, independent regulator for America's securities industry. The move modernized oversight for a changing market and strengthened investor protections nationwide.
FINRA's story actually began decades earlier, in an era of economic recovery. The NASD registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 1939. This registration formalized what traders had been doing informally for generations.
Congress had established the SEC in 1934 following the devastating market crash of 1929. Two years later, lawmakers passed the Maloney Act to regulate off-exchange securities trading more effectively.
The NASD spent 68 years evolving to match the changing securities landscape and technology. By the early 2000s, fragmented regulatory oversight became increasingly inefficient for a modern industry.
The 2007 merger created the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority by combining the NASD's institutional knowledge with the NYSE's regulatory expertise. This unified regulator now oversees all brokers and firms across US markets comprehensively.
As 2024 closed, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued substantial penalties against three major firms. These companies faced settlements for sending inaccurate trade information and filing flawed Focus reports. Year-end enforcement actions let both regulators and firms resolve lingering compliance issues cleanly.companies faced settlements for sending inaccurate trade information and filing flawed Focus reports. Year-end enforcement actions let both regulators and firms resolve lingering compliance issues cleanly.
Into 2025, FINRA's Regulatory Oversight Report highlighted three major threats to the industry. Cybersecurity vulnerabilities from third-party technology providers topped concerns alongside AI compliance challenges. Investment fraud schemes also continue to shift as bad actors devise new ways to deceive clients.
FINRA regulates broker-dealers and investment firms in America by combining enforcement with educational resources to protect investors and maintain market integrity:
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority also addresses emerging threats like cybersecurity risks and artificial intelligence compliance challenges. The organization remains focused on supporting a healthy, trustworthy securities market for all participants.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority reports that investor protection and market stability form the core of its mission. The regulator values its employees and delivers market-rate compensation with benefits such as:
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority also says that it does not discriminate in hiring based on disability, veteran status, and other protected classifications under federal, state, and local law. It complies with 41 CFR regulations protecting disabled individuals and veterans.
Robert W. Cook is the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's president and CEO, with prior experience directing the SEC's trading and markets division. Before FINRA, Cook was a partner at a law firm in Washington. His education includes a JD from Harvard Law School, a master's degree from the London School of Economics, and an undergraduate from Harvard.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's leadership team includes the following key executives:
These executives manage the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's daily operations while upholding the organization's core mission to protect investors.
FINRA launched a targeted probe into broker-dealers underwriting small foreign company IPOs to combat pump-and-dump schemes. The regulator required detailed supervisory procedures and due diligence records for offerings between January 2023 and September 2025. This enforcement action positions the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority as a proactive market protector against cross-border securities fraud.
The organization also penalized First Trust Portfolios, an ETF provider, in 2025 with a $10 million settlement for excessive gifts to broker-dealer representatives. The violations spanned from 2018 through February 2024 and included luxury courtside tickets and concert events. This enforcement action illustrates FINRA's commitment to preventing investor harm through strict non-cash compensation oversight.
The measure establishes tighter procedures and a special roster of arbitrators to hear brokers' requests to clear their records of customer disputes.
Finra arbitrators order the firm and a broker to pay about $500,000 to a former McDonald's franchise owner after an options trading snafu.
Chattanooga, Tennessee-based William F. Winchester III was registered with LPL Financial from 2007 to 2012 and then with Raymond James Financial Services.
A multistate investigation of the problems in 2020 cited Robinhood for technology failures as well as lack of diligence in approving options trading.
Finra's action was another by the broker-dealer self-regulator that targets a best-execution failure by a member firm.
Open claims against the Iowa-based broker-dealer totaled $32.1 million at the end of 2022, eight times what it reported a year earlier, according to an SEC filing.
If financial advisors don't seek the firm's approval, they risk running afoul of securities regulators, Cetera said.
Finra arbitrators ruled on the estate's claim that Morgan Stanley ignored rules laid out by a court for how funds in the estate were to be handled.
Four people face federal indictments in the scheme, and the former advisor is being charged by the SEC.
The rep at Hornor Townsend & Kent sold securities known as Future Income Payments; according to the Department of Justice, that was a nationwide Ponzi scheme.
State regulators cite brokers' outside business activities and 'off-channel communications' as two areas that can't be overseen from afar.
The SEC's amendment to rule 17a-4 represents a tremendous opportunity to bring firms' record-keeping systems into the 21st century.
'Having the interaction with registrants is really critical,' Natasha Vij Greiner, deputy director of the SEC's Division of Examinations, told an Investment Adviser Association conference.
Financial advisors should pay attention to regulators' concerns, since it's often advisors or firm executives who don't follow industry rules to the letter who may be discharged.
CEO Bill Hamm said the net capital deficit of $120,000 shown in IFP's Focus report was the result of accrual accounting.
