News Releases & Statements

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Joint Statement on Broker-Dealer Custody of Digital Asset Securities
WASHINGTON – Market participants have raised questions concerning the application of the federal securities laws and the rules of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) to the potential intermediation—including custody—of digital asset securities1 and transactions.
FINRA Orders Summit Brokerage Services, Inc. to Pay More Than $550,000 in Restitution to Customers Whose Accounts Were Excessively Traded
Firm Sanctioned for Failing to Reasonably Supervise Recommended Securities Transactions and Use of Consolidated Reports WASHINGTON—FINRA announced today that it has sanctioned Summit Brokerage Services, Inc. (Summit) a total amount exceeding $880,000 for supervisory failures, including approximately $558,000 in restitution to customers whose accounts were excessively traded by a former registered representative of the firm who was previously barred by FINRA.
Financial Prosperity Eludes Many Americans Despite Growing Economy and Declining Unemployment
National Comprehensive Survey of Financial Capability Finds Younger Americans, Those With Lower Incomes, African-Americans and Those Without a College Degree Facing Toughest Financial Struggles  
FINRA Foundation Honors Top Student Researchers for Advancing Understanding of Financial Capability in the United States
WASHINGTON – The FINRA Investor Education Foundation (FINRA Foundation) today announced the recipients of its higher-education awards created to recognize outstanding analyses by researchers-in-training who seek to advance understanding of consumer well-being and the complex relationships among financial literacy, financial capability and financial well-being.
NASAA, SEC and FINRA Issue Senior Safe Act Fact Sheet to Help Promote Greater Reporting of Suspected Senior Financial Exploitation
Washington D.C., May 23, 2019 – In recognition of the one-year anniversary of the passage of The Senior Safe Act, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have issued a fact sheet to help raise awareness among broker-dealers, investment advisers, and transfer agents of the Act and how the Act’s immunity provisions work.
Report from FINRA Board of Governors Meeting – May 2019
WASHINGTON – FINRA’s Board of Governors met on May 6 and 7 in New York City. During the meeting, the Board received updates on FINRA’s regulatory operations, including a status report on FINRA’s 529 plan self-reporting initiative and draft guidance around when Enforcement would grant firms credit for extraordinary cooperation during the enforcement process. That guidance will be published in a future Regulatory Notice.
FINRA Launches Initiative to Simplify Firms’ Digital Experience with FINRA, Facilitating More Efficient and Effective Compliance Programs
Digital Experience Transformation Invites Firms to “Help Us Design the Future” of Compliance Reporting and Management WASHINGTON – FINRA announced today that it is launching an initiative to transform the digital platform that firms use to engage with FINRA across several programs. The Digital Experience Transformation, as it is being called, is a wide-ranging, multi-year effort to integrate and simplify brokerage firms’ digital interactions with FINRA, facilitating more efficient and effective compliance programs.
FINRA Sanctions AXA Advisors, LLC Approximately $772,000 for Misrepresentations to 401(k) Plan Sponsors and Participants
Restitution Ordered; Firm Ordered to Send Corrective Disclosures to Affected Plan Participants WASHINGTON — FINRA announced today that it has fined AXA Advisors, LLC (AXA) $600,000 and ordered the firm to pay approximately $172,000 in restitution to affected 401(k) retirement plan participants for distributing materials that negligently misrepresented that certain bond funds offered for 401(k) plans were “investment-grade” when, in fact, a substantial portion of the funds’ portfolios consisted of high-yield or junk bonds.
FINRA Orders Buckman, Buckman & Reid to Pay Approximately $205,000 in Restitution to Customers for Supervisory Failures Involving Excessive and Unsuitable Trading
Firm Owner Sanctioned for Failing to Supervise Two Registered Representatives WASHINGTON — FINRA announced today that it has ordered New Jersey-based broker-dealer Buckman, Buckman & Reid, Inc. (BBR) to pay approximately $205,000 in restitution to seven customers for failing to reasonably supervise two former registered representatives who recommended excessive and unsuitable trades in multiple customer accounts. As part of the settlement, FINRA also required the firm to review and revise its supervisory system and written supervisory procedures.
FINRA Orders Buckman, Buckman & Reid to Pay Approximately $205,000 in Restitution to Customers for Supervisory Failures Involving Excessive and Unsuitable Trading
Firm Owner Sanctioned for Failing to Supervise Two Registered Representatives WASHINGTON — FINRA announced today that it has ordered New Jersey-based broker-dealer Buckman, Buckman & Reid, Inc. (BBR) to pay approximately $205,000 in restitution to seven customers for failing to reasonably supervise two former registered representatives who recommended excessive and unsuitable trades in multiple customer accounts. As part of the settlement, FINRA also required the firm to review and revise its supervisory system and written supervisory procedures.