The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is defined as a private corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization (SRO). FINRA is the successor to the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the USA. FINRA oversees nearly 47,000 brokerage firms, about 167,000 branch offices, and 637,000 registered securities representatives.

FINRA is a non-profit organization and a non-government organization.

FINRA maintains the qualification, employment and disclosure histories of more than a half of a million securities employees.

What does this mean for business people, attorneys, and investors? Anyone can go on the FINRA website, insert the name of a securities broker and/or brokerage firm and have access to information whether or not they are currently FINRA-registered, have been registered with FINRA within the last two years, or have ever been the subject of a final regulatory event that has been reported to CRD. You might be very surprised what you find out about your stock broker.

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