Reports & Studies

FINRA welcomes comments on this paper, including input from financial industry market participants that are currently exploring social media influenced investing or have identified other use cases in the securities industry.

Within the securities industry, social media plays a prominent role in influencing investor behavior while providing opportunities for new forms of customer engagement and additional sources of data.

The 2026 FINRA Annual Regulatory Oversight Report provides FINRA member firms with insight into findings from FINRA’s regulatory operations programs.

This latest report examines investor behaviors, attitudes, knowledge and experiences, including trends in new investor participation, use of financial influencers, risk tolerance and investor knowledge levels.

In an effort to increase public awareness and understanding about the broad range of FINRA-registered firms and individuals, FINRA shares an annual snapshot of some of the data collected in the course of our work.

The 2025 FINRA Annual Regulatory Oversight Report (the Report) provides member firms with insight into findings from the recent oversight activities of FINRA’s Member Supervision, Market Regulation and Enforcement programs (collectively, regulatory operations programs).

The term “metaverse” has attracted significant attention and curiosity in recent years from the media, entertainment and technology sectors. Though the term has no concrete definition, and interpretations may differ, the metaverse is generally viewed as the next evolution of today’s internet.

FINRA welcomes comments on this paper, including input from financial industry market participants who are currently exploring metaverse technology or have identified other use cases in the securities industry.

FINRA regulates a critical part of the securities industry – member brokerage firms doing business in the United States. In an effort to increase public awareness and understanding about the broad range of FINRA-registered firms and individuals, FINRA shares an annual snapshot of some of the data collected in the course of its work.

The 2024 FINRA Annual Regulatory Oversight Report provides member firms with insight into findings from FINRA’s Member Supervision, Market Regulation and Enforcement programs.