FINRA News Releases

FINRA Orders American Portfolios Financial Services to Pay $4.6M Restitution

FINRA ordered American Portfolios Financial Services to pay $4.6 million in restitution to approximately 85,000 customers affected by overcollection of fees and retention of undisclosed surplus interest in its bank deposit program between April 2018 and September 2022. The firm collected more than $3 million in aggregate fees beyond what its disclosed formula would have yielded, retained approximately $1.25 million in surplus interest, and was fined $550,000 for violations of FINRA and SEC rules.

FINRA Appoints Four New Board Governors

FINRA announced the appointment of four new Governors to its Board of Governors: Rostin Behnam (former CFTC Chairman), Tim Carter (former Piper Sandler CFO), Dan Gallagher (Robinhood CLO and former SEC Commissioner), and Heather Traeger (General Counsel at Texas Teacher Retirement System). The new governors bring diverse expertise in financial services, regulation, industry leadership, and public pension management to FINRA's 22-member Board.

FINRA Board approves five rule proposals under modernization initiative

FINRA's Board of Governors approved five rule proposals on March 4-5, 2026, as part of the FINRA Forward rule modernization initiative. The proposals address shortened exam waiting periods, electronic delivery of regulatory requests via FINRA Gateway, streamlined allocation approval requirements, alternative investment reconciliation adjustments, and arbitration procedure enhancements including arbitrator replacement processes.

FINRA Launches Financial Intelligence Fusion Center for Cybersecurity Threat Sharing

FINRA announced the launch of the Financial Intelligence Fusion Center (FIFC), a secure portal for member firms to share cybersecurity and fraud threat intelligence and coordinate responses. The portal was piloted with a diverse group of member firms and is now available for all member firms to opt into. The initiative expands FINRA's existing resources for cybersecurity guidance and is part of the FINRA Forward program.

FINRA Foundation Research on Social Media Investors and Fraud Risk

The FINRA Investor Education Foundation released research examining retail investors who use social media and follow finfluencers. The study, based on the 2024 National Financial Capability Study, found that social media is successfully engaging younger and previously underrepresented investors, but these investors exhibit elevated fraud risk. Among social media users targeted for fraud, 68-69% lost money versus 26-29% for non-users, despite answering only 42% of investment knowledge questions correctly while 63% rated their knowledge as high.