Glossary
FINRA
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the self-regulatory organization that oversees US broker-dealers under the SEC.
FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is the self-regulatory organization that writes and enforces rules for brokerage firms and their registered representatives in the United States. It is a private, not-for-profit body, but it operates under the oversight of the SEC, which must approve its rule changes. FINRA was formed in July 2007 by combining the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) with the member-regulation arm of the New York Stock Exchange.
What it does
- Writes conduct rules for broker-dealers: suitability (Rule 2111), margin (Rule 4210), best execution (Rule 5310), communications with the public, and many others.
- Examines and disciplines member firms, imposing fines, suspensions and expulsions.
- Licenses professionals through qualification exams such as the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) and Series 7.
- Watches markets, running surveillance across exchanges and operating trade-reporting facilities and TRACE, the bond-trade reporting system.
- Runs a dispute forum: most customer complaints against brokers go to FINRA arbitration.
- Publishes BrokerCheck, a free database of firms' and brokers' registrations and disciplinary histories.
A rule change investors noticed
FINRA's margin rule is where the old pattern-day-trader requirement lived. Amendments to Rule 4210, effective June 4, 2026, replaced the pattern-day-trader designation and its $25,000 minimum with an intraday margin standard. Firms may phase in the change until October 20, 2027, so the treatment an account gets depends on its broker.
FINRA does not regulate investment advisers that are not also brokers, and it is not a government agency.