Many of us view January as a time to make a fresh start, and as a time to bid farewell to bad habits. In thinking about your New Year's resolutions, have you considered whether you're making financially healthy decisions?

On this episode, we sit down with Gerri Walsh, President of the FINRA Investor Education Foundation and Senior Vice President of Investor Education, to uncover the trends and tips investors need to get their finances in order for 2025. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

BrokerCheck

Market Data Center

Fund Analyzer

Fixed Income Data

FINRA Investor Education Foundation

Protecting Consumers from Fraud

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Behind every market transaction lies a wealth of data. But how can we harness this information? 

On this episode, we sit down with two members of the Market Regulation and Transparency Services team, Senior Vice President of Strategic Regulatory Engagement Alex Ellenberg, and Senior Director of Transparency Services Equities Brendan Loonam. They join us to discuss periodic aggregate market data sets, including some new data recently added to FINRA's website, and how FINRA makes this information available to the public in support of its mission of investor protection and market integrity.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

FINRA Data
OTC Transparency Data
NMS Equity and Option Order Routing Reports (SEC Rule 606(a) Reports)
About NMS Equity and Options Routing Reports (SEC 606(a) Reports)
OTC (ATS & Non-ATS) Transparency
Reg Notice 23-10: FINRA Requests Comment on a Proposal to Require Members to Provide Rule 605 Order Execution Quality Reports to FINRA for Centralized Publication
Episode 149: MRTS 2.0: A Redesign for a Rapidly Evolving Market

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This episode originally aired in August 2023. 

In 2022, FINRA developed an enterprise-wide strategy to ensure it is prepared for an evolving crypto asset regulatory landscape and created the Crypto Hub, the Blockchain Lab and the Crypto Asset Investigations Team

On this episode, the first in a three-part series, we sit down with Omer Meisel, Senior Vice President of the Complex Investigations and Intelligence Group, Jason Foye, Senior Director and Head of FINRA's Crypto Hub, and Reema Abdelhamid, a Director with FINRA Enforcement to learn more about the strategy and the role of the Hub and FINRA’s work to advance its mission of investor protection and market integrity.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

FINRA Blog: An Inside Look into FINRA’s Crypto Asset Work

Episode 112: FINRA's Complex Investigations and Intelligence Team & Cyber and Analytics Unit

Episode 138: FINRA’s Blockchain Lab: Regulation and Innovation For The Future

Episode 145: Compliance and Communication: An Update on FINRA’s Crypto Asset Targeted Exam

Episode 158: An Update on FINRA’s Crypto Asset Work and the Crypto Hub

Episode 162: When Romance Leads to a Crypto Scam

Investor Insights: What Is a Blockchain, and Why Should I Care?

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In the securities world today, there is little daylight between money laundering and fraud. As these two spaces have come to increasingly overlap, FINRA created the Special Investigations Unit, or SIU, to detect and investigate cases illicit finance, market abuse and other fraud. 

On this episode, we sit down with SIU Senior Director Gargi Sharma, and three investigative directors from her team: Kayla Le, Peter Gonzalez and David Byrne. They join us to share how they work to proactively identify and mitigate threats related to money laundering and other frauds.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Reg Notice 21-14: FINRA Alerts Firms to Increase in ACH Instant Funds Abuse

Reg Notice 22-25: Heightened Threat of Fraud

Reg Notice 23-06: Effective Practices to Address Risks of Fraudulent Transfers

2023 Report on FINRA’s Examination and Risk Monitoring Program

2024 FINRA Annual Regulatory Oversight Report

Investor Insight: Ramp-and-Dump Scams

Investor Insight: Investment Group Imposter Scams

Episode 33: AML in the Securities Industry

Episode 129: Detecting and Preventing ACATS Fraud

Episode 154: FINRA’s High-Risk Representative Program

Episode 157: An Update on FINRA’s Financial Intelligence Unit 

Episode 161: FINRA CEO Robert Cook on Disrupting the Cycle of Financial Fraud

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Gen X is often called the Forgotten Generation given how often they’re overlooked in favor of conversation around boomers, millennials or now even Gen Z. But not today. 

On this episode, Gen X is the one in the spotlight as we sit down Gary Mottola, research director with the FINRA Foundation, Ritta McLaughlin, director of community outreach with FINRA’s Investor Education team, and Jeremy Ko, the 2024 FINRA Foundation Ketchum Visiting Scholar, to dig into the financial health of those born between 1965 and 1980 and, importantly, their perception of their own financial well-being. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

How Gen X Compares Financially to Other Generations: Doing Alright but Feeling Bad

FINRA Foundation National Financial Capability Study

Episode 19: Debunked: 7 Myths about Millennials—the Underinvested Generation

Episode 22: Millennials and Money: How to Get Started on the Road to Investing

Episode 134: Gen Z Investors: A Look at the Attitudes and Behaviors of the Youngest Investors

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Why do we engage with scammers? What makes one person more likely to engage than the next? Of those that engage, what makes someone more likely to lose money? These are important questions to ask – and find the answers to – both as consumers and as an industry with an interest in disrupting the cycle of financial fraud. 

On this episode, we hear from moderator Emma Fletcher, a senior data researcher with the FTC, and panelists Marti DeLiema, Assistant Research Professor at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Duygu Başaran Şahin, a postdoctoral research fellow at the RAND Center for the Study of Aging, and Gary Mottola, research director for the FINRA Foundation, about the latest research into these important questions and learn more about what might stop someone from engaging with a fraud to begin with.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Exposed to Scams: What Separates Victims from Non-Victims

Does One Size Fit All? An Examination of Risk Factors by Scam Type

Fraud Victimization Across the Lifespan: Evidence on Repeat Victimization Using Perpetrator Data

Addressing the Problem of Chronic Fraud Victimization

Vulnerability of Older Adults to Government Impersonation Scams

A Review of Scam Prevention Messaging Research

Protecting Retail Customers from Gift Card Payment Scams

FINRA Foundation Research Center

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The number of highly sophisticated crypto scams is growing, with Americans losing an estimated $5.6 billion to crypto-related scams in 2023, according to the FBI, a 45 percent jump from the prior year. And often crypto fraud is tied in with romance scams, with criminals targeting victims through texts, dating sites, social media, networking channels or other apps. While we all like to think we would be immune to such scams, research has shown time and again that everyone is vulnerable, even the most highly educated among us. 

On this episode, we hear the firsthand accounts of Jules and Brian, two victims of romance crypto scams, who recently spoke at a FINRA Foundation conference on disrupting the cycle of financial fraud. They sat down with Kim Casci-Palangio, program manager of the Cybercrime Support Network (CSN), to share their experiences, the financial, mental and emotional toll they took, and their efforts to recover from their loss. This audio was edited to remove personally identifying information about our victims.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Cybercrime Support Network

Romance Scam Recovery Group

FINRA Foundation

FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

Non-Traditional Costs of Financial Fraud

Investor Alert: Relationship Investment Scams

‘Pig Butchering’ Scams: What They Are and How to Avoid Them

Crypto Investment Scams Infographic

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Last week, FINRA CEO Robert Cook spoke to an audience of regulators, academics, law enforcement agencies, advocacy groups and financial firms at a conference hosted by the FINRA Foundation to underscore the importance of working together to disrupt the cycle of fraud. 

He highlighted specific areas for further coordination and announced that FINRA will reach out operators of existing regulatory databases to explore ways to create a one-stop shop resource for investor research. On this episode, we  tune in to his remarks. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Full Text of Speech As Prepared for Delivery

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FINRA’s Examinations team carries out one of FINRA’s core functions in the examination of FINRA member firms. In an effort to continuously improve the program, the team has undertaken changes to create efficiencies before, during and after the exam process. 

On this episode, Michael Solomon, executive vice president of Examinations and the Membership Application Program, Tom Mellett and John Martino, both vice president of Firm Group Examinations, join us to detail some of the recent changes, including the introduction of thematic reviews, changes to the post-exam closeout process and more.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Episode 132: The Ins and Outs of FINRA’s Annual Program

2024 Regulatory Oversight Report

Targeted (Sweep) Exam Letters

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FINRA’s Membership Application Program (MAP) team serves as the first point of contact for firms looking to enter the broker-dealer industry. It works both to protect investors by ensuring would-be member firms meet FINRA standards of admission, and to help new and existing firms grow and evolve, ensuring a vibrant market for all.

On this episode, Cindy Foster, Vice President of MAP, joins us to share more about FINRA standards of admission and how the group works to ensure a smooth process for both current and prospective member firms. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Member Application Rules

Broker-Dealer Registration

FINRA Standards for Admission

Episode 117: Reviewing and Approving Digital Asset Firms

MAP Tools and Videos

MAP FAQs

Checklist for Mandatory Materiality Consultation

Residential Supervisory Locations (RSL) FAQs

Phone: 212-858-4000, option five

Email: [email protected]

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