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 an age of automation, broker-dealers interested in alternative investments -- hedge funds, LLPs,, non-traded REITs and the like -- still rely on phone calls and faxes to conduct transactions. A new platform could change all that.
The SEC, Finra and four states have charged Morgan Keegan with fraudulently overvaluing several bond funds in 2007. Apparently, that hasn't moved accountant PwC to revisit its audit of the funds
U.S. regulators are poised to restrict investment advisers from giving money to politicians to win pension business in response to abuses in an industry that oversees $2.4 trillion of public retirement funds.
A slate of challengers for three small-firm seats on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. board have gathered enough support to seek a spot on the ballot for the upcoming board election.
Finra-backed candidates who represent large and midsize firms are running unopposed so far in the regulator's upcoming board election, but a battle is brewing for three open small-firm seats.
A series of nasty legal fights involving Jesup & Lamont Inc., Penson and Finra may be coming to a head.
Complex reverse convertibles mostly sold to individual investors; 'inconceivable'
The banned broker's responses to questioning, however, often come across as confused.
Bambi Holzer hit with client complaint over selling of risky offerings; broker has appeared on 'Today,' CNN and CNBC
With the sale of private placements facing intense scrutiny from securities regulators, one due diligence attorney has fired off a potent missive to Finra officials about clients' responsibilities when buying the high risk deals.
State securities regulators today announced a new reporting service that allows investors to check on the disciplinary records of their investment advisers online.
Congressional committee approval late last week of an amendment to the financial-reform bill maintaining state regulation of equity-indexed annuities drew mixed reaction, with insurers cheering the action and advisers largely opposing it.
Okoboji Financial Services Inc. filed forms with both the SEC and Finra to withdraw as a broker-dealer.<br><b>INsider:</b> <a href=http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20100530/REG/305309970>Why are so many broker-dealers disappearing?</a>
Under the rule, if an investment adviser or certain employees of an advisory firm contribute to a politician with influence over hiring, they cannot be paid by the pension fund for two years.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. is actively investigating broker-dealer underwriters of subprime securities, a Finra official said this morning at the regulator's national conference in Baltimore.
