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.
A former top executive of Securities America feared “a panicked run on the bank” from clients who invested in private securities of Medical Capital Holdings Inc., which was sued last month by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud.
A retired Michigan couple has filed a securities arbitration claim against Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. for sales practices that allegedly led to a loss of $650,000.
Foothill Securities Inc., an employee-owned broker-dealer, has merged with Cue Financial Group Inc., a smaller independent firm.
Massachusetts regulators sent subpoenas to four brokerage firms July 31 seeking information about the way they sold inverse and leveraged exchange traded funds. The subpoenas were issued weeks after the firms restricted the sale of the products or stopped selling them altogether.
Attorneys and executives at broker-dealer firms are questioning the extent of National Financial Partners Corp.'s potential liability in a civil suit involving a failed life settlement transaction at an NFP affiliate.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC today announced restrictions on the sale of leveraged, inverse, and leveraged-inverse exchange traded funds by its brokers and advisers.
Some broker-dealer executives who are now paying increased fees to the Securities Investor Protection Corp. are wondering why it is paying out on claims of investors victimized by Bernie Madoff.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. has slapped Ameritas Investment Corp. with a fine after one of its brokers encouraged clients to buy unsuitable variable universal life insurance policies to help pay for college costs and retirement.
A broker booted from Next Financial is under investigation by the police in San Antonio for his role in an alleged theft of about $1.5 million from an elderly couple.
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Foothill Securities Inc. an employee-owned broker-dealer based in Mountain View, California, is merging with Cue Financial Group Inc., a smaller independent firm based in Phoenix.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. has slapped Wells Fargo Investments LLC and four other investment firms with $1.65 million in fines for supervisory failures in mutual fund and variable annuity transactions.
In a dramatic re-branding, NAVA Inc., the trade group of variable annuity providers, last week changed its name to the Insured Retirement Institute and its focus to serving “the insured-retirement-strategies industry and consumers who rely on those guarantees.”
At least three brokerage firms have decided not to sell leveraged exchange traded funds a month after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. warned brokers that they “typically are unsuitable for retail investors” who hold them longer than a day.
Next Financial Group Inc. of Houston was fined $1 million today by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. for failures to supervise its network of some 130 branch managers, also known as OSJs in the independent-contractor-broker-dealer industry.
