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.
Company says legal tab in 2009 equaled 12% of revenue; crashed bond funds to blame
The Securities and Exchange Commission would be required to issue rules prohibiting or limiting mandatory arbitration clauses in securities contracts under draft legislation introduced this week by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.
While most investment management companies are reluctant to start firmwide hiring, many are looking to bulk up their compliance departments, according to executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates Inc.
The financial advisory industry and its clients still may be struggling with the aftermath of the market crash — but investor plaintiff's attorneys are doing just fine, thank you.
An arbitration panel has awarded a former broker at Allegiant Securities LLC $100,000 in a case that arbitrators said involved a forged letter purporting to be from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.
The financial advisory industry and their clients still may be struggling with the aftermath of the market crash — but investor plaintiff's attorneys are doing just fine, thank you.
The financial services industry has spent most of this year anticipating regulatory changes in response to the recent global economic crisis.
State regulators are up in arms about a provision in the proposed Investor Protection Act which would eliminate a requirement that an independent consultant hired by the Securities and Exchange Commission look into the failures at self-regulatory organizations.
Investment advisers, state regulators and consumer advocates were astonished by the easy adoption of a key addition to the Investor Protection Act that would give Finra power to oversee any adviser associated with a registered broker-dealer, including about 500 dually registered Finra members.
The House Financial Services Committee today unanimously approved a measure that would move oversight of investment advisory firms with less than $100 million in assets to state securities regulators.
State regulators are objecting to proposed amendments to the Investor Protection Act that would eliminate a requirement to look into the failures at self-regulatory organizations.
If the SEC has its way, more disciplinary information about brokers will be available to investors.
Morgan Stanley has agreed to pay a $90,000 fine to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. to settle charges that it traded municipal bonds at unfair prices.
The SEC may be examining fewer investment advisers than ever, but when it does pay a visit, even routine exams are more demanding, according to lawyers, consultants, advisers and the agency itself.
Richard Ketchum, the chairman and chief executive of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., told a gathering of brokerage firm executives that his group will be more aggressive about investigating the advisory activities of their brokers — regardless of whether it <a href= http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090517/REG/305179968&ht=SRO>gets full regulatory authority </a> to oversee investment advisers.
