FINRA.
In plain English
FINRA stands for Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. It is a non-governmental, self-regulatory organization authorized by Congress to oversee U.S. brokerage firms and their employees (roughly 3,400 firms and 600,000 registered representatives). FINRA writes the rules brokers follow, runs the licensing exams (Series 7, Series 63, etc.), publishes disciplinary actions, and runs BrokerCheck, the free public lookup tool for any broker's background.
01Why it matters
Before working with any broker or financial advisor, looking them up on FINRA's BrokerCheck is free and takes 60 seconds. It shows licenses held, employment history, customer complaints, and any disciplinary actions. A clean record is not a guarantee, but a long list of customer disputes is a serious warning sign.
02The math, step by step
Looking up an advisor on BrokerCheck might show 'Disclosure: 3 customer disputes' with details on what each customer alleged. One dispute could be a misunderstanding; three is a pattern. The site is free at brokercheck.finra.org.
03What this is NOT
The SEC is the federal government regulator over public markets and registered investment advisers. FINRA is a self-regulatory organization, not government, focused on brokers and brokerage firms. Both publish public disciplinary records, on different lookup sites.
04Receipts
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