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.
House lawmakers crafting legislation to overhaul the system of financial regulation are focusing on the key elements of investor protection and bringing investment funds under government supervision as they hear the views of regulators, industry officials and investor advocates.
The head of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. today threw the group's support behind allowing the Securities and Exchange Commission to ban mandatory arbitration clauses in securities contracts.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. will expand a pilot program that allows investors to choose arbitration panels without industry participants.
Investment advisory firms would have to pay fees to cover the cost of SEC examinations under draft legislation released last week by a senior lawmaker.
The investment advisory profession is facing a number of serious policy issues that could dramatically alter the manner in which it is regulated and transform the high ethical standards that have been a hallmark of the profession for decades.
The Investment Adviser Association supports the Obama's administration's efforts to ban mandatory arbitration clauses in securities contracts.
Broker-dealers and registered reps should not bear the burden of increased fees from Finra after the regulator's “failure to properly prepare for the inevitable market downturn,” according to a notice sent to broker-dealers last week from the Financial Services Institute.
Although a House Financial Services subcommittee plans to discuss adviser issues at a hearing on Oct. 6, it's unlikely Congress will debate the fine points of adopting a fiduciary standard for all financial advisers.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. is investigating whether broker-dealers are meeting their obligations to municipal-bond issuers who seek distribution to retail investors.
Regulators and legislators clashed with members of the life settlements industry at a congressional hearing today that focused on the risks and merits of life settlements securitization.
About 270 registered reps and advisers are scrambling for a new broker-dealer to park their licenses after being notified just yesterday that their firm — Colonial Brokerage Inc. — will be shut down in November, according to sources both inside and outside of Colonial.
A North Carolina insurance agent and former registered representative was arrested yesterday and faces embezzlement charges for allegedly duping a 90-year-old woman into signing away her annuities.
Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. has lost another arbitration case stemming from losses suffered by a former professional athlete when its bond funds blew up: This time it is liable to a former NBA all-star for $1.45 million in damages.
A North Carolina woman today filed an arbitration claim with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. against Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., claiming that the firm misrepresented a fund as a conservative investment for her marital trust, when it was in fact unsuitable.
A former Morgan Stanley broker was barred today by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. for allegedly misappropriating $11,156.47 from the charitable foundation of a 97-year-old nursing home resident who was his client for more than 20 years.
