The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a regulator of central importance to the functioning of U.S. capital markets. It regulates nearly 4.000 broker-dealers and almost 650,000 registered representatives. It is a private, not-for-profit “self-regulatory organization.” The Securities and Exchange Commission conducts oversight of FINRA. FINRA has an annual budget of $1 billion.

Concerns raised about FINRA include a lack of transparency, its governance structure, the imposition of a large regulatory burden on small broker-dealers, the structure of its rule-making process, the adequacy of the due process protections it provides, and the fairness of its arbitration process. FINRA is undertaking a comprehensive review of its rules and practices called FINRA 360. Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission stood up a new office to conduct oversight of FINRA and Congress held an oversight hearing.

Please join us for an in-depth look from a variety of perspectives on how to reform FINRA.