There are two types of 529 plans—prepaid tuition plans and savings plans. Prepaid plans offer protection against rising tuition costs. Savings plans allow earnings to grow tax-deferred, and withdrawals are tax-free when used for qualified education expenses. Nearly every state offers at least one of these types of plans.
By Christine Kieffer, Senior Director, Office of Investor Education, FINRALast month, financial columnist Charlotte Cowles detailed how she lost $50,000 to a financial scam. Charlotte’s story is both alarming and illuminating—and very powerful. And, sadly, she is not alone.There likely are millions of scam stories like hers. Sophisticated criminal organizations steal billions of dollars every
FINRA has been made aware that users of the TRACE and ORF New Issue Form have reported that the main grid is not loading efficiently. FINRA is working to resolve this problem.
(a) Dissemination Upon ReceiptFINRA will disseminate information on all transactions in TRACE-Eligible Securities, including transactions effected pursuant to Securities Act Rule 144A, immediately upon receipt of the transaction report, except as provided in paragraphs (b) through (d) of this Rule.(b) Periodic DisseminationFINRA will disseminate aggregated information on certain transactions in
Within FINRA, we view ourselves as working on the “front lines” of investor protection. What does that mean? It means that we act quickly to identify misconduct, stop fraud and prevent losses, obtain restitution for harmed investors, and remove bad actors from the brokerage industry. Here, we are focusing on that last piece—barring bad actors from associating with a FINRA member.Let us start with
In the last two years, FINRA has barred more than 730 brokers and associated persons. What was the most prevalent rule violation that resulted in these bars? You might think that the most brokers were barred for violating FINRA’s rule against misuse of customer funds (FINRA Rule 2150) or making fraudulent misrepresentations (Rule 2020) or, perhaps, for excessively trading customer accounts in
Among the many opportunities available to investors are those involving “crowdfunding.” Crowdfunding generally refers to the use of the internet by small businesses to raise capital through limited investments from a large number of investors. Crowdfunding investments carry significant risk, and you can lose some or all of your investment.
As we approach the end of the first quarter of 2024, FINRA’s Cyber and Analytics Unit (CAU) proactively warns member firms of continuing social engineering campaigns involving fraudulent representations of individuals purporting to be FINRA representatives. As with many types of social engineering campaigns, threat actors may use website domain names (sites) that are similar to FINRA.org (e.g., Finra-latam.org, finra.world, finra.eu), fraudulently use FINRA’s logo or purport to be legitimate FINRA employees. These domains and individuals are not associated with FINRA.
FINRA Compliance Workshops are informal, interactive learning opportunities that provide 2 – 3 hours of in-depth educational content on key compliance topics. Workshops are designed to provide industry practitioners the opportunity to learn from and engage with FINRA staff and subject matter experts and peers in a small group setting.The Protecting Vulnerable Adults and Seniors from Financial
