The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) is the largest independent, not-for-profit regulator of securities firms conducting business in the United States.  FINRA is authorized by the United States Congress to provide regulatory oversight over registered brokers and firms, bring disciplinary actions against offending brokers/firms, and otherwise seek restitution for investors harmed by unfair business and trading practices.

Both federal and state securities law require that brokers, investment advisors, and their firms obtain and maintain appropriate licensing and registration, and to ensure that that information is available for consumption by the general public.  As part of its commitment to investors, FINRA developed an online tool called “BrokerCheck” to provide the public with information relating to a registered individual and/or firm’s:

(1) registration (with either FINRA or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission);

(2) pending disciplinary actions (by industry regulators);

(3) criminal convictions; and

(4) employment history (for individuals, information surrounding their current and prior

employers; for brokerage firms, information surrounding the formation of the firm).

On June 1, 2015, as part of its ongoing commitment to help investors make informed choices about brokers and brokerage firms, FINRA launched a multimedia advertising campaign – complete with print and video advertisements – providing tongue in cheek examples of pitfalls associated with making decisions before first thinking through the outcome.  Some examples include:

• You wouldn’t drink mystery milk without checking first.
• You wouldn’t sign a contract without checking first.
• You wouldn’t buy a diamond without checking first.
• You wouldn’t read a teleprompter without checking first.

The print advertisement concludes, “So why would you invest without checking BrokerCheck?  You wouldn’t . . . These days, you check everything, so there’s no reason not to check your broker with BrokerCheck.”  For more information – and to view FINRA’s comical video ads – please navigate to: http://www.finra.org/investors/brokercheck-ads

FINRA’s BrokerCheck is a useful tool for would-be investors – simply navigate to the website, input the name of the individual or firm you are curious about, and spend some time “getting to know” the investor and/or firm.  After digesting the information in the report, would-be investors can follow up with the individual or firm for additional clarification.

FINRA’s BrokerCheck  multimedia campaign provides our readers with three important reminders:(1) it reminds investors to spend some time researching brokers and brokerage firms prior to handing over their hard-earned money to them (or be at the risk of spending tens of thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees and costs to litigate these matters before FINRA in the future); (2) it reminds brokers to interview potential customers to ascertain the customer’s investment expectations and industry knowledge; and (3) it reminds investment firms to recruit and retain productive, talented and ethical individuals to assist the firm with managing its customers’ investments.