News Releases & Statements

FINRA announced today that it has appointed Bill St. Louis as Head of Enforcement, effective immediately. St. Louis, an Executive Vice President, was most recently head of FINRA’s National Cause and Financial Crimes Detection Program (NCFC). St. Louis will be responsible for the management of approximately 350 enforcement staff in 11 offices across the United States and will report directly to FINRA President and CEO Robert Cook.

Board Re-Elects Chair, Re-Appoints Public Governors, and Approves Three Rulemaking Items WASHINGTON—FINRA’s Board of Governors met on July 12-13 for the third time in 2023. During the meeting, the Board re-elected Eric Noll as Board Chair, re-appointed three public governors and approved three rulemaking items.

Firm Failed to File Nearly 1,500 Suspicious Activity ReportsWASHINGTON—FINRA announced today that it has fined Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. $6 million for failing to establish and implement policies, procedures, and internal controls reasonably designed to cause the reporting of suspicious transactions as required by the Bank Secrecy Act.

Firm Violated Reg BI, Excessively Traded, and Churned Numerous Customer Accounts, Including Those of Gold Star FamiliesWASHINGTON—FINRA announced today that it has expelled Monmouth Capital Management for churning and excessively trading customer accounts in violation of Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), failing to supervise its representatives, and providing false and misleading disclosures to retail customers on its client relationship summary (Form CRS).

Regulators to Discuss Protecting Seniors During World Elder Abuse Awareness Day WASHINGTON—The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) and FINRA will be co-hosting the Senior Safe Act Webinar: Identifying and Reporting Suspected Exploitation.

Board Appoints Lisa Fairfax as New Public Governor, Approves 2022 Annual Financial Report and Adds New Members to Advisory Committees WASHINGTON—FINRA's Board of Governors met on May 17-18 for the second time in 2023. During the meeting, the Board appointed a new public governor, approved FINRA’s 2022 Annual Financial Report and added new members to Advisory Committees.

Report Examines Attitudes, Behaviors of Investors Ages 18 to 25 WASHINGTON—FINRA Investor Education Foundation (FINRA Foundation) and CFA Institute have released a new report, Gen Z and Investing: Social Media, Crypto, FOMO, and Family.

Firm Made Misrepresentations to Customers and Violated Reg BI as well as FINRA’s Suitability and Supervision RulesWASHINGTON—FINRA announced today that it has expelled broker-dealer SW Financial for multiple violations, including making misrepresentations to customers in its sales of private placement offerings of pre-initial public offering (pre-IPO) securities, churning customer accounts, and failing to supervise its representatives.

WASHINGTON— FINRA and NFA recently held a special summit focused on crypto assets and agreed to expand their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to address crypto activities that fall within their respective regulatory mandates.

Options Trading Activity, Demographic Changes for FINRA-Registered Representatives Among New Data Available in this Year’s Snapshot WASHINGTON – FINRA today published the 2023 Industry Snapshot, the annual statistical report on registered representatives, brokerage firms, and market activity that FINRA oversees. This year’s edition adds new data about options trading activity, and certain demographic changes of FINRA-registered representatives.