FINRA Unscripted

The Membership Application Program Group, FINRA’s the gatekeeper to the broker-dealer industry, is undergoing a transformation to develop a more streamlined process to help firms and prospective firms work through the New Membership and Continuing Membership Application processes more efficiently. On this episode, we learn what firms can expect.

For service members, a missed credit card payment might do more than just ding their credit report, it could also jeopardize a hard-fought promotion. And for their spouses, move after move might be more than just a logistical hardship, it might also be the biggest hurdle in their own career growth. The FINRA Foundation Military Spouse Fellowship Program is just one program that is aiming to address both challenges.

Detecting and deterring fraud and insider trading is at the core of FINRA's mission of investor protection and market integrity. On this episode, the head of FINRA's Market Investigations team joins us once again to talk about the latest trends and patterns in FINRA's fraud and insider trading investigations, including some stories about some of the craziest and most interesting cases of the past few years.

The Report on FINRA’s Examination and Risk Monitoring program is an important reference document addressing more than 20 topics of interest for firms and regulators. On this episode, we talk to three members of the Member Supervision team about some key highlights and how firms can use this extensive document.

We are celebrating 100 episodes of FINRA Unscripted. We’ve covered a lot of ground over the past 4 years and 100 episodes and today we are taking a trip back in time to revisit some of our greatest hits.

Greg Ruppert joined FINRA in 2020 to form and lead the National Cause and Financial Crimes Detection Programs. Now, he’s been tapped to lead Member Supervision, the team responsible for the surveillance and examination of FINRA member firms and for detecting and deterring activities that can cause investor harm. On this episode, we talk to Greg about how he views this transition in leadership and his goals and areas of focus in his new role.

The majority of FINRA’s market manipulation surveillance patterns now use deep learning to detect misconduct in what is perhaps in what is perhaps the largest application of artificial intelligence in the RegTech space. On this episode, we hear how this is making FINRA’s market surveillance data more digestible and increasing the efficiency and flexibility of the program.

In 2020, FINRA and the CE Council embarked on the biggest transformation of the continuing education program in 25 years. And in the months ahead, those major changes are going into effect. On this episode, we learn what firms and reps can expect and why these changes will have such a big impact.

The brokerage industry has an important role to play when it comes to detecting, preventing and reporting fraud. On this episode, we hear from the then head of FINRA's National Cause and Financial Crimes Detection Programs about recent trends and how firms can work to protect themselves and their customers.

Transparency plays a central role in promoting the fairness and efficiency of U.S. markets, lowering transaction costs, leveling the playing field and enhancing public trust in our markets. And the data market transparency provides serves as the lifeblood of FINRA's surveillance program. On this episode, we hear about FINRA's historical commitment to market transparency and how it has impacted FINRA's regulatory regime.

The small firm community, those firms with 150 or fewer registered financial professionals, came together in October to discuss and engage on key areas of concern at the Small Firm Conference. On this episode, we're taking you behind the scenes of this year's event with an abridged look at the fireside chat with FINRA CEO Robert Cook and Executive Vice President Greg Ruppert.

For service members, a missed credit card payment might do more than just ding their credit report, it could also jeopardize a hard-fought promotion. And for their spouses, move after move might be more than just a logistical hardship, it might also be the biggest hurdle in their own career growth. The FINRA Foundation Military Spouse Fellowship Program is just one program that is aiming to address both challenges.

Firm regulatory risks and priorities don't exist in a vacuum. And that is perhaps nowhere clearer than when it comes to a firm's anti-money laundering responsibilities. A firm's AML risks can overlap with any number of other priorities. On this episode we look at the overlapping risks of AML and cybersecurity.

Shawn Spruce’s advocacy work earned him the 2021 Ketchum Prize, the FINRA Foundation’s highest honor. On this episode, we talk to Spruce about his teaching and outreach as a tireless champion of investor education and expanded financial capability in Native communities.

As a Self-Regulatory Organization, FINRA benefits from the expertise and industry knowledge of member firms to react more quickly to emerging challenges and write more effective and efficient regulations. FINRA’s Regional Committees play an important role in this process, supplying FINRA with real-time insights that help us fulfill our mission of investor protection and market integrity. On this episode, we learn more.