News Releases & Statements

FINRA announced today that Derrick Roman, former partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), and Gus Sauter, current member of FINRA’s Investment Committee, have been appointed as public governors on its Board of Governors. In addition, Naureen Hassan, President of UBS Americas and CEO of UBS Holdings, has been appointed as an industry governor to the Floor Member Governor seat.

FINRA announced today that it has fined Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC $1.6 million for the firm’s repeated failures to timely close out failed inter-dealer municipal securities transactions and to take prompt steps to obtain physical possession or control of municipal security positions that are short more than 30 calendar days, and related supervisory failures.

New members have been appointed to the Board of Directors of the non-profit FINRA Investor Education Foundation (FINRA Foundation), and Jonathan Sokobin has been named Chair, effective February 12, 2024.

FINRA has identified potential violations of FINRA Rule 2210 (Communications with the Public) in 70 percent of crypto asset communications it reviewed, according to a report published today on the results of a targeted exam.

Investors of Color are Entering the Market at a Faster Pace than White Investors and Tend to Be Much Younger, Report Shows

FINRA published its 2024 FINRA Annual Regulatory Oversight Report, formerly known as the Report on FINRA’s Examination and Risk Monitoring Program. The report provides member firms with key insights and observations from recent activities of FINRA’s regulatory operations to use in strengthening their compliance programs.

WASHINGTON—FINRA announced today that it has appointed Feral Talib as Executive Vice President and Head of Surveillance and Market Intelligence. He will assume the role on January 2.

FINRA’s Board of Governors held its fifth and final meeting of the year on December 6-7. During the meeting, the Board approved two rule proposals and FINRA’s 2024 proposed budget , and continued discussions around FINRA’s financials, including expenses and the drawdown of reserves. The Board also appointed new members to the National Adjudicatory Council (NAC) and the Small Firm Advisory Committee (SFAC), and previewed the 2024 FINRA Annual Regulatory Oversight Report.

FINRA announced today that it has sanctioned four firms—M1 Finance LLC, Open to the Public Investing, Inc., SoFi Securities LLC, and SogoTrade, Inc.—a combined $2.6 million, including over $1 million in restitution to retail customers enrolled in fully paid securities lending programs and fines of $1.6 million for the firms’ related supervisory and advertising violations.

FINRA announced today that it has fined BofA Securities, Inc. $24 million for engaging in more than 700 instances of spoofing through two former traders in U.S. Treasury secondary markets and related supervisory failures spanning more than six years.