2026 Small Firm Conference Agenda

Pre-Conference Networking Reception With the SFAC and early registration

Pre-Conference Workshop – Compliance in the Age of AI: Real Scenarios, Peer-Driven Conversations

Every member firm is navigating AI differently, but the practical questions AI raises around risk, supervision, and compliance are universal. This interactive workshop puts real-world AI scenarios on the table and challenges participants to work through them from a compliance and risk perspective, examining what can go wrong, what supervisory considerations apply, and what practical steps firms can take in response. Working through scenarios as a group, attendees discuss approaches they can bring back to their own firms, with opportunities to share perspectives and learn from peers across the room. Attendees leave better prepared to identify and address the AI risks and compliance considerations their firms are facing today and on the horizon.

Break

Pre-Conference Workshop – Cyber Resilience for Small Firms

In today's threat landscape, how an organization prepares for and responds to a security incident can matter as much as how it prevents one. This interactive workshop explores what it takes to strengthen cyber resilience, covering detecting and containing incidents early, overseeing the third-party vendors who touch your data, and communicating clearly and promptly with those affected when something goes wrong. Through hands-on exercises and group discussion, participants work through practical approaches for assessing incidents, controlling their impact and determining when and how to notify individuals whose information may be at risk, equipping teams to act decisively under pressure while building trust with customers and stakeholders. Designed with small member firms' unique resource constraints in mind, this session emphasizes practical, scalable tools over theory, giving participants frameworks they can put to use right away.

Registration and light refreshments

Conference Kickoff and Compliance Leadership: A Conversation With Small Firm CCOs

This session brings small member firm chief compliance officers (CCOs) together for a candid discussion on what effective compliance leadership looks like today. Panelists highlight the practices that help CCOs build resilient programs, from streamlining audit and reporting processes to making the most of limited staff and resources, and share firsthand examples of the approaches that have worked well , from Written Supervisory Procedures templates to creative resourcing solutions. Attendees leave with practical ideas to bring back to their firms and direct engagement with peers facing the same challenges.

Break

From Handshake to Oversight: Managing the Vendor Relationship

Member firms rely on vendors and service providers for functions ranging from recordkeeping to cybersecurity, and evaluating these relationships requires a consistent approach to due diligence, classification and ongoing monitoring. This panel brings together FINRA staff and firm practitioners to discuss practical approaches to vendor oversight, available resources and tools and considerations firms weigh during vendor transitions. Panelists also discuss how they approach due diligence as vendors increasingly incorporate new technology, including AI, into their offerings.

Networking Break and Question Continuation Zones*

Navigating Your Clearing and Introducing Firm Relationship

Clearing and introducing member firm relationships require clear delineation of responsibilities, reliable access to data and close coordination across a range of operational and regulatory scenarios. This panel brings together clearing firm and introducing firm perspectives alongside FINRA staff to discuss practical approaches to managing these relationships—from coordinating during suspected fraud events and addressing common data access challenges during examinations, to managing liability and insurance considerations. Panelists also discuss what to expect as FINRA considers rule changes to clarify responsibilities between clearing and introducing firms.

Break

Ask the CEO: An Open Forum With Robert Cook

FINRA’s President and CEO Robert Cook joins small member firm principals and compliance professionals for an open forum driven entirely by attendee questions. This session gives small firms a direct line to FINRA's top leadership—an opportunity to raise the issues and ideas that matter most to their day-to-day operations and hear Robert's perspective in response. Robert speaks candidly to where FINRA's regulatory approach is headed, how it considers the unique challenges facing smaller firms and what he is hearing from across the industry. Attendees leave with direct insight into FINRA's strategic thinking and a clearer sense of where the regulatory landscape is headed.

Networking Reception

Registration and Networking Breakfast

AI in Practice: Balancing Efficiency and Risk

AI is reshaping how broker-dealers operate—from automating routine tasks to enhancing sales, operations and compliance functions—and a growing list of new capabilities requires careful analysis of not just the technology but supervisory practices, training and guidance. This panel brings together compliance and operations practitioners at different stages of adoption to share candid, firsthand experiences, covering where AI is delivering real value and where challenges remain, how member firms are supervising AI-assisted work, how they are managing data, model, and agentic risks, and what firms should be doing now given how regulators are approaching AI oversight. Attendees leave with real-world examples and actionable steps they can bring back to their programs regardless of where their firm is on the AI adoption journey.

Break

From Location to Activity: A Look at Remote Supervision Today

Hybrid and distributed work arrangements have become the norm, and member firms continue to navigate Remote Supervisory Location (RSL) registration, inspection obligations and risk-based supervision approaches that reflect how their workforce actually operates. This panel brings together practitioners managing different business models to discuss practical approaches to RSL registration thresholds, how they calibrate inspection frequency based on activity risk and where physical inspection requirements intersect with growing reliance on technology-enabled surveillance. Panelists also speak to active rule proposals addressing RSL terminology and the future of the Remote Inspections Pilot Program.

Networking Break and Question Continuation Zones*

Responding to Senior Financial Exploitation: Lessons From the Field (workshop-style session)

Financial exploitation of senior investors continues to grow in volume and complexity, and member firms are continually evaluating how they staff, coordinate and execute their response once a concern is identified. Structured as a roundtable, this session pairs a moderator-led discussion with panelists alongside dedicated time for attendees to work through common scenarios at their own tables. Topics include applying temporary holds under FINRA Rule 2165, staffing and resourcing response efforts, coordinating with Adult Protective Services and law enforcement and promoting trusted contact designations. Attendees leave having heard directly from peers at their table as well as from panelists and FINRA staff.

Trending Topics Lunch

Dessert With Exhibitors and Question Continuation Zones*

Rule Modernization: Your Action Plan for What Is Coming

FINRA's rulebook modernization is well underway, bringing a number of changes designed to reduce compliance burden and better reflect today's business practices. This panel focuses on the proposed consolidation of outside business activity and private securities transaction requirements under new Rule 3290—one of the key changes in the current modernization cycle—examining what the changes mean in practice and how member firms can prepare. Panelists also provide brief updates on other rules in motion and offer perspective on where to prioritize as these changes move toward adoption. Attendees leave with a clearer picture of what's coming, how peers are preparing and how to stay engaged in the rulemaking process.

Break

Exam Ready: Practical Approaches to Examination Preparation (workshop-style session)

Successful examinations often start long before FINRA's first request arrives. Structured as a roundtable, this session pairs a moderator-led discussion with panelists alongside dedicated time for attendees to work through common scenarios at their own tables. Topics include organizing records and documentation ahead of a request, maintaining consistent communication with exam staff throughout the process, responding to evolving requests and scope and preparing for a clear transition if a matter moves beyond examination. Attendees leave having heard directly from peers at their table as well as from panelists and FINRA staff.

Conference Adjourns