FINRA is a not-for-profit, self-regulatory organization (SRO) dedicated to promoting investor protection and market integrity in a manner that facilitates vibrant capital markets. One of FINRA’s tools for achieving this objective is fair and effective enforcement of our member firms’ compliance with securities laws and regulations.

FINRA’s examination, surveillance and risk monitoring programs play a central role in supporting FINRA’s mission of investor protection and market integrity.

This report continues FINRA’s efforts to share information that can help brokerdealer firms further develop their cybersecurity programs. Firms routinely identify cybersecurity as one of their primary operational risks. Similarly, FINRA continues to see problematic cybersecurity practices in its examination and risk monitoring program. This report presents FINRA’s observations regarding effective practices that firms have implemented to address selected cybersecurity risks while recognizing that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to cybersecurity.

Technology Based Innovations for Regulatory Compliance in the Securities Industry outlines recent regulatory technology (RegTech) developments within the securities industry and potential opportunities and implications these technologies may have for broker-dealers.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) regulates a critical part of the securities industry—brokerage firms doing business with the public in the United States. In an effort to increase public awareness and understanding about the broad range of FINRA-registered firms and individuals, FINRA for the first time is sharing an annual snapshot of some of the data collected in the course of its work.

We launched FINRA360 in March 2017 with one overarching objective: to ensure that FINRA is operating as the most effective and efficient self-regulatory organization (SRO) we can be.

Customers who pursue civil remedies or arbitration claims against investment professionals cannot always recover on their judgments or awards. Customers encounter this challenge across the forums in which they may pursue action— whether state or federal court, a dispute resolution forum administered by a regulator, a private arbitration venue, or otherwise — and across the range of financial services they may use.

Introduction FINRA’s examination program plays a central role in supporting FINRA’s mission of investor protection and market integrity. A main component of this program is FINRA’s examinations of broker-dealers (“firms” or “members”) that are conducted on a regular cycle basis: each firm is examined at least once every four years, and many are examined even more frequently. In connection with each of these examinations, FINRA prepares a report—which is available only to the relevant firm—addressing certain aspects of the firm’s compliance with securities rules and regulations.

Comment Period Expired: March 31, 2017

Dispute Resolution is committed to providing a fair, efficient, and economical forum to resolve disputes among investors, securities firms, and individual brokers. To ensure that the forum meets the evolving needs of parties, FINRA formed a task force to consider possible enhancements to its arbitration and mediation forum. The task force comprised individuals, from the public and industry sectors, who represent a broad range of interests in securities dispute resolution. The members of the task force are set forth at the end of this page.