FINRA Unscripted

Third-party risk is the most clicked-on topic in FINRA's 2025 Regulatory Oversight Report. But what is third-party risk and why are people so interested in it? What can FINRA member firms do to mitigate that risk? And how can FINRA help?

On this episode of FINRA Unscripted, FINRA’s Executive Vice President of Member Supervision Greg Ruppert shares valuable insights on why firms are facing heightened challenges with third-party vendo...

This month, we are marking the 10th anniversary of the FINRA Securities Helpline for Seniors—an important milestone for a critical service that FINRA provides to protect vulnerable investors and assist harmed investors. On this FINRA Unscripted podcast episode, we will be speaking with leaders from FINRA’s Vulnerable Adults and Seniors Team—Elizabeth Yoka, the manager of VAST Intake, and Michael Paskin, the manager of the VAST Inve...

As we observe National Consumer Protection Week amid a growing and changing financial fraud landscape, the time is ripe to talk about the ways in which investors can protect themselves from financial scams. 

On this episode, we sit down with Rob Mascio, Director of the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, to talk about the latest fraud trends, common red flags to watch out for and practical steps investors can take to safeguard inve...

As the financial industry continues to evolve, it's important to stay ahead of emerging risks and trends. On this episode of FINRA Unscripted, the leaders of FINRA's new Strategic Intelligence and Analytics (StratIntel) team discuss how they are working to identify and analyze these industry developments.

On this episode, we sit down with the leaders of the StratIntel team: Senior Vice President of Data and Analytics for Member Supe...

As a self-regulatory organization, information sharing is key to FINRA's pursuit of its mission of investor protection and market integrity. The 2025 FINRA Regulatory Oversight Report provides just that: Critical insights to help firms strengthen their compliance and protect investors.

On this episode, hosted by Member Relations and Education Vice President Kayte Toczylowski, FINRA’s regulatory leaders— Executive Vice President and ...

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 financ...

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...

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, Senio...

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 By...

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 Visit...

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...

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, researc...

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 ...

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 Grou...

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 a...

Last summer, we introduced listeners to FINRA’ Crypto Hub and enterprise-wide strategy for keeping up with the evolving crypto asset regulatory landscape. A year later, this remains an important area of focus for investors, the industry and FINRA. 

On this episode, Jamie Udinson, senior director of the Cyber and Analytics Unit, Michael Yuan, a director with FINRA’s Risk Monitoring program, and Jason Stralka, an examination manager w...

FINRA's Financial Intelligence Unit acts as a nerve center for information on emerging threats impacting the financial industry with the aim of providing actionable intelligence to firms, other regulators and law-enforcement to keep investors safe. 

On this episode, Blake Snyder, senior director of FIU, joins us to share how the group has grown and matured over the last few years and how they are evolving the way they share informat...

Financial social media influencers—or finfluencers—are growing in popularity as a cheap way to reach a new generation of investors. But using these individuals to promote a firm its products or services comes with risks, as revealed by the results of a recent targeted review of FINRA member firm practices in the space. 

On this episode, Ira Gluck, senior director of Advertising Regulation, and Melissa Turitz, a director with FINRA E...

In late May, certain amendments to FINRA's margin rule, Rule 4210, went into effect to address a significant source of potential systemic risk and risk to FINRA member firms. The amendments introduced specific margin requirements related to covered agency transactions. 

On this episode, we talk to David Aman, senior advisor, and James Barry, director of Credit Regulation, both with FINRA's Office of Financial and Operational Risk Po...