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.
In what has become an all-too-familiar scene, another broker-dealer has received a cease-business letter for failing to have sufficient capital on hand.
The number of arbitration claims filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. seeking repayment of forgivable loans from brokers who quit has more than doubled in the past two years.
There are just 450 advisers 'approved' to work with NFL players, fighting it out over 1,800 athletes in the league. But now, Dana Hammonds, director of financial programs and adviser administration for the NFLPA, said the players' union will craft new rules that advisers must meet to get on that carefully vetted list.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is revamping how it scans for abuses such as insider trading, responding to increased fragmentation of markets, Chief Executive Officer Richard Ketchum said today.
Officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission are considering setting limits on computer-trading algorithms — and may choose to require broker-dealers to monitor their orders — in the wake of the May 6 flash crash.
Clearing firms, facing declining revenue and in-creased competition, have something new to worry about: More and more broker-dealers are seeking loans as an incentive to sign on with a new firm.
Investors are still miffed with the securities industry for the havoc that resulted from the credit crisis. Financial advisers are somehow escaping that wrath.
The president of a broker-dealer says that Charles Schwab took some of his assets off a custody platform after he hired a former Schwab employee. An isolated event? An attorney claims he has handled several cases over the last year arising from similar moves by the discount broker.
High levels of correlation in the U.S. stock market have made picking individual stocks increasingly difficult. Recent studies indicate that about 80% of price action in the majority of widely traded stocks is closely correlated to a related index.
Dodd-Frank will be leading to changes in the SEC's adviser exam program, according to Robert Stype, managing partner at ACA Compliance Group.
Next Financial Group Inc. was hit last month with its third significant regulatory action in three years when Finra socked it with a $400,000 fine and $102,000 in restitution to clients.
Morningstar Inc. may consider reviewing the way it displays information to financial advisers and their clients about returns on variable annuity subaccounts.
In Finra arbitration pilot program, investors fared better with all-public panels
A new Finra rule could put a crimp in the business of brokers who run outside investment advisory and insurance businesses
