FINRA Reminds Registered Persons and Firms of Continuing Education Requirements

Summary

FINRA is providing information in this Notice to remind registered persons and firms of the continuing education (CE) requirements, including:

• this year’s Regulatory Element training assignments and completion deadline of December 31, 2026;
• resources available to registered persons and firms to facilitate compliance with the annual Regulatory Element requirements; and
• resources available to guide firms creating their CE Firm Element written training plans and to help firms locate relevant course content to meet their training needs.

Questions concerning this Notice should be directed to:

• Patricia Monterosso, Senior Director, Testing and Continuing Education Department, at (212) 858-4086 or email;
• Genay Glasgo, Director, Testing and Continuing Education Department, at (561) 443-7985 or email; or
• Nicole Lefort, Associate Director, Testing and Continuing Education Department, at (212) 858-5247 or email.

Background & Discussion

I.  Regulatory Element

FINRA Rule 1240 (Continuing Education) requires all registered persons to complete the Regulatory Element annually by year end for each registration that they hold.¹ The 2026 Regulatory Element courses have been assigned and are required to be completed by December 31, 2026. Dropping or adding a registration may result in a change to the assigned learning plan.

Registered persons who fail to complete their Regulatory Element by the annual deadline of December 31 will be automatically designated as CE inactive by FINRA.²

Firms may request that FINRA extend the time by which a registered person must complete the Regulatory Element for good cause shown.³

To complete their Regulatory Element, registered persons must access assigned courses on the CE platform through their Financial Professional Gateway (FinPro Gateway™) account. FinPro Gateway users should verify that their information—including email addresses and phone numbers—is current, accurate and complete in the system. Keeping information up to date will help ensure that FinPro Gateway users receive all appropriate notifications sent to them. Existing FinPro Gateway users who have forgotten their FinPro Gateway user ID or password can recover their information on the FinPro Gateway account recovery page. Support for FinPro Gateway and the CE platform is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET. Notice will be provided on FINRA’s Systems Status page when these systems are unavailable.

The course topics for the 2026 learning plans are available on FINRA’s View a Regulatory Element Learning Plan page. Registered persons can use the interactive tool on this page to view the course topics assigned to a registration category or group of registration categories for a given calendar year. The published course topics may also assist firms when preparing their Firm Element training plans. Additional information about Regulatory Element learning topics is provided below.

II. Firm Element

In addition to the Regulatory Element requirements, firms must maintain a CE program, the Firm Element, for their registered persons to enhance their securities knowledge, skills and professionalism.⁴ Firms must, at least annually, evaluate and prioritize their training needs and develop a written training plan for the Firm Element. The training plan must take into consideration the firm’s size, organizational structure and scope of business activities, as well as regulatory developments and the completion of Regulatory Element by registered persons. If a firm’s analysis establishes the need for supervisory training for persons with supervisory responsibilities, such training must be included in the firm’s training plan.

FINRA Rule 1240 allows firms to consider training relating to the anti-money laundering compliance program and the annual compliance meeting toward satisfying an individual’s annual Firm Element requirement.

III. CE Content Catalog

FINRA has developed an online, centralized content catalog, Financial Learning Experience (FLEX™), which firms may optionally leverage for administering education and training for their Firm Element programs or other training needs. The platform currently includes courses FINRA developed, including eLearning courses from the Crypto & Blockchain Education Program. In the future, FINRA plans to include courses from third-party training providers and other self-regulatory organizations (SROs). Firms have the option of using the courses in the catalog for their Firm Element training, but they are not obligated to do so.

IV. Resources

FINRA and the Securities Industry Regulatory Council on Continuing Education (CE Council) have developed reports, tools and guidance documents as resources to support firms with their CE requirements. These resources are highlighted below.

FINRA Gateway: FINRA has settings enabled and reports created within FINRA Gateway to assist firms in complying with the Regulatory Element requirements:

• Option to Set and Display an Earlier CE Completion Deadline: Firms have the option to set a deadline earlier than December 31 for their registered persons to complete the Regulatory Element. Firm-based CE due dates can be set in FINRA Gateway’s Firm Settings to be included in FINRA automated CE Notifications. FINRA has introduced the option for firms to display their earlier completion due date in FinPro Gateway along with the SRO Regulatory Element due date of December 31. Firms can select to display the earlier completion due date in automated Regulatory Element notifications, FinPro Gateway or both locations. More information on configuring the display is available in the Firm Settings Guide.
• Sending Automated CE Notifications: Firms can schedule automated Regulatory Element notifications to be sent to registered persons in FINRA Gateway’s Firm Settings. These include Regulatory Element due date notifications and CE status change emails. Firms also have the option to send automated email notifications to their registered persons regarding an earlier completion deadline, if one is selected. For more information on configuring notifications, see the Firm Settings Guide. Notifications will be sent to the email address that a registered person has provided in their FinPro Gateway account. Firms can elect to receive a copy of the CE notifications sent to their registered persons.
• Monitoring Tools: Throughout the year, firms can monitor the CE statuses of their registered persons by using the Annual Regulatory Element templates in FINRA Gateway Reports. More information on these customizable templates is available on FINRA Gateway’s Annual CE Obligations page.
• Ensuring Access to FinPro Gateway: To identify registered persons without an active FinPro Gateway account, firms can use the FinPro Gateway Access Tracking report template available in FINRA Gateway. Set the filter for the “Is FinPro User” field to “No” when using the template.

FinPro Gateway: Registered persons who do not currently have a FinPro Gateway account can create an account on the FinPro Gateway registration page. For guidance, they may refer to the FinPro Gateway account creation guide.

Registered persons who may have to reactivate a dormant account should allow several business days to do so. Additionally, they should allow sufficient time to complete their assigned Regulatory Element learning plan by the December 31 due date.

Annual Regulatory Element Learning Topics: By October of each year, the Regulatory Element learning topics for the coming year will be made available on FINRA.org. 

The 2026 learning topics for each registration category have been published, including the estimated completion times for each course. Firms can view a Regulatory Element learning plan assigned to a registration category or group of registration categories for a given calendar year. This information is provided in advance so that firms may consider it when preparing their Firm Element training plans.

Topics being considered by FINRA and the CE Council for coverage in the 2027 Regulatory Element learning plans have been announced. More information on these topics will be available by October 2026, including which topics will be assigned to each registration category, the course title and course description. 

CE Council Website and Publications: The CE Council regularly publishes information and documents on its website about the CE requirements and programs, including:

Program Information and FAQs:

• CE Council Regulatory Element FAQs offers general information about the Regulatory Element, including the content, course assignments, completing courses and dual registrants.
• CE Council Firm Element FAQs provides a helpful starting point to walk firms through planning, developing and implementing their Firm Element programs.
• Maintaining Qualifications Program information covers program eligibility and participation, firm communication considerations and FAQs.

Firm Element Planning Documents to assist firms in designing their Firm Element training plans:

• Firm Element Focus (previously named the Firm Element Needs Analysis Quarterly Highlights) assists firms with identifying potential topics to include in their Firm Element training plans. Topics are identified from a review of industry, regulatory and SRO announcements; publications of significant events; and the annual report from FINRA’s Examination and Risk Monitoring Program.
• CE Council Guide to Firm Element Continuing Education Programs supports the development of a Firm Element program that addresses regulatory requirements and assists firms with the creation of their annual needs analysis and written training plan.
• Firm Element Needs Analysis Template assists firms in establishing a Firm Element training plan by providing a starting point for planning, developing and implementing a program. The template is available for download in multiple formats (PDF, Word and Excel).

Endnotes